It is Sir David Attenborough’s 100th Birthday today
Sir David Attenborough has graced our television screens for longer than many of us can recall. Turning 100 years old today, the renowned environmentalist continues to appear on our screens, and is widely celebrated for his lifelong efforts to protect the natural world.
The acclaimed natural historian and filmmaker has received two knighthoods, the first in 1985 and the second in 2020. Yet beyond his considerable professional accomplishments, what do we know about Sir David’s life away from the cameras?
The broadcaster, who lives in Richmond, South West London, is not often seen in public these days – but made a rare appearance in Central London earlier this week, arm-in-arm with his daughter Susan.
David was married to Susan’s mother, Jane Elizabeth Ebsworth Oriel, for 47 years until her heartbreaking death in 1997. Jane died following a brain haemorrhage aged 70.
David has previously opened up about coping with his loss, recalling how when he reached the hospital, she was already in a coma and the doctor advised him to hold her hand. He wrote in his autobiography: “She did, and gave my hand a squeeze. The focus of my life, the anchor had gone… now I was lost.”
Speaking to The Express about Jane’s passing, he said: “I coped by working. It was the most fantastic luck that I was able to work. If my life had gone a different way – say I had gone into the oil business, which I once considered doing – I would have been out at 60.”
Jane and David’s marriage produced two children – their daughter Susan and son Robert, both of whom are now in their seventies. Susan, a former primary school headmistress, lives in the UK, while Robert has carved out a career following in his father’s footsteps, previously serving as a senior lecturer in biological anthropology at the Australian National University in Canberra. He has since been working in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge.
Sir David isn’t the only star in the family either – his older brother Richard Attenborough was a celebrated actor, director and film producer. He is best known for starring in films including Jurassic Park, Miracle on 34th Street and The Great Escape. Sadly, Richard passed away in 2014, five days before his 91st birthday.
At the age of 100, Sir David has done a lot in his life, travelling to all corners of the earth to document the natural world. However, there is one surprisingly ordinary thing Sir David has never done – driven a car. In one of his most famous quotes, he said: “I don’t run a car, have never run a car. I could say that this is because I have this extremely tender environmentalist conscience, but the fact is I hate driving.”
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