Chat shows have always been an essential way to connect with the throngs of fans that support the celebrity world. Of course it is a two way street, it makes the celebrity much more famous and even makes the interviewer a celebrity, cases in example Larry King, Oprah Winfrey, Johnny Carson, David Letterman and the list goes on.
Among this legion the name of Michael Parkinson, fondly known as Parky, will keep on coming up in a venerable manner. He had a gentlemanly, comfortable manner that kept viewers and guests alike entertained, and one look at the guests is enough to tell you just why he achieved the legendary tag- Fred Asatire, Sir David Attenborough, Sir Billy Connolly, Stephen Fry, Robin Williams, Gwyneth Paltrow, Muhamamad Ali( Parkinson said Ali was his favorite guest) and so many more, this article would fall short.
Parkinson ruled Saturday nights like no other and unlike the showbiz, which is given to an understandable air of pretenses and gloss, he always remained sharply himself, a truly authentic figure, which is getting harder to find by the day.
He started off journey in 1971, with his cool, avuncular manner and a journalistic background that was gleaned from the equally famous Guardian newspaper and in the 2000 celebrities he interviewed for nearly four decades, the singer Marion Montgomery was his first ever guest. Such talent didn’t go unnoticed and by the time in late 2007 when he was in the final lap of his career, he was knighted by the monarchy, another enduring reminder of the British and while monarchies still exist in some countries of the world, the British Monarchy was the largest ever and still the most popular, producing all sorts of colorfully charismatic royals like Prince Edward VIII, Princess Diana, Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth, George V etc.
Parky can now interview God in heaven and I am sure God would like that too.