Eric Thompson

Life and career

Eric Norman Thompson was born on 9 November 1929 in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, England, the son of Annie (née Jackson) and George Henry Thompson, and grew up Rudgwick, Sussex, attending Collyer's School, Horsham. He trained to be an actor at the Old Vic acting school in London and joined the Old Vic theatre company in 1952.

He worked regularly for the BBC, and was a presenter of the children's television programme Play School from 1964 to 1967. He was best known as the narrator of The Magic Roundabout, for which he also wrote the English language scripts, using the visuals from the original French Le Manège Enchanté. These were transmitted from October 1965 to January 1977. His daughter Emma Thompson has noted his influence on her career, saying "his humour and his rigour, a self-taught man, who loved words and loved the use of words and how they worked. Everything about that was hugely influential." Thompson rarely worked on television after his voice became well-known, but occasionally appeared in programmes such as Doctor Who in the serial The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve in 1966.

Personal life

Thompson married Scottish actress Phyllida Law, whom he met while at the Old Vic in 1957. Their daughters Emma and Sophie Thompson have also followed acting careers.

Death

On 30 November 1982, Thompson died of a pulmonary embolism in London just three weeks after his 53rd birthday.