biography
| name: |
Brandreth, Gyles (Daubeney)
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1948– )
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| biography:
| British writer, broadcaster, and politician. He studied at Oxford, where he became president of the Oxford Union, and editor of Isis. He worked as a freelance journalist from 1968, and as a columnist for several magazines, including the TV Times. He founded the National Scrabble Championships in 1971, and has on three occasions held the world record for length of after-dinner speech. Long interested in word games, and the quirks and eccentricities of language, his books include I Scream for Ice Cream (1974), The Book of Mistaikes (1982), and many more on puzzles and entertainment. Other writing includes novels, such as Who is Nick Saint? (1996), and many books for children. In 1999 he published Breaking the Code: The Westminster Diaries, a light-hearted account of his five years as an MP. He is best known for his television series, such as Chatterbox (1977–8) and Catchword (1986), and he presented for TV-AM (1983–90). He was an MP (1992–7). |
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