Richard Whiteley

Richard Whiteley OBE DL
Whiteley in the early 2000s
Born	John Richard Whiteley (1943-12-28)28 December 1943 Bradford, England
Died	26 June 2005(2005-06-26) (aged 61) Leeds, England
Alma mater	Christ's College, Cambridge
Occupation(s)	Journalist, game show host
Years active	1968–2005
Known for	Countdown (1982–2005; his death)
Spouse	Candy Watson ​ ​ (m. 1973; div. 1975)​ [1]
Partners	Jeni Cropper (1970s–80s)[1] Kathryn Apanowicz (1994–2005, his death)[1]
Children	1[1]

John Richard Whiteley OBE DL (28 December 1943 – 26 June 2005) was an English presenter and journalist, best known for his twenty-three years as host of the game show Countdown. Countdown was the launch programme for Channel 4 at 4:45 pm on 2 November 1982, and Whiteley was the first person to be seen on the channel (not counting a programme montage). Whiteley enjoyed projecting the image of an absent-minded eccentric. His trademarks were his jolly, avuncular manner, his fondness for puns, and his bold, sometimes garish wardrobe.

Thanks to over twenty years' worth of daily instalments of Countdown as well as his work on the Yorkshire magazine programme Calendar and various other television projects, at the time of his death Whiteley was believed to have clocked more hours on British television screens—and more than 10,000 appearances—than anyone else alive, apart from Carole Hersee, the young girl who appeared on the BBC's Test Card F.^[2]