This Is Your Life: John Simpson

John SIMPSON CBE (1944-)

THIS IS YOUR LIFE - John Simpson, television journalist, was surprised by Michael Aspel - with the help of reporter Martin Bell - during a photocall at Newsworld, a convention of television news people at the InterContinental Hotel in Berlin, Germany.

John, who was born in Cleveleys but grew up in London and Suffolk, was educated at St Paul's School and Magdalen College, Cambridge. Having joined the BBC in 1966 as a trainee sub-editor for radio news, he later served as the corporation's correspondent in Dublin, Brussels and South Africa.

In his 30 years with the BBC, he interviewed most of the world's leaders, reported from war zones including Afghanistan, Angola, Lebanon, Iran and Iraq, has been a diplomatic correspondent and political editor, and presented the Nine O'Clock News. In 1988, he became foreign affairs editor and, in 1991, was named the Royal Television Society's Journalist of the Year for his coverage of the Gulf War.

"Oh! Oh! Was this... erm. I'm laughing out of nervousness, that's all... I'm deeply, deeply nervous about what this book contains - I know what's in my life and I'm just worried that you've found out!"

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