Parkinson's struggles from alcohol abuse to Helen Mirren feud and TV disguise

17 August 2023 , 10:30

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Legendary British broadcaster and journalist Sir Michael Parkinson - fondly called 'Parky' by friends and fans - has died at the age of 88, eight years after receiving the all-clear following treatment for prostate cancer.

His family shared a heartbreaking statement this morning: "After a brief illness Sir Michael Parkinson passed away peacefully at home last night in the company of his family. The family request that they are given privacy and time to grieve."

Michael was best known for being the king of chat shows and carved out an impressive TV career that spanned five decades - from presenting his talk show Parkinson in the seventies, to interviewing Muhammad Ali and Sir Elton John.

The veteran broadcaster had some incredible highs throughout his career, but he also went through some very dark times, including battling booze and not recognising himself on television.

Alcohol abuse

Sir Michael Parkinson opened up about the lowest points of his life during his incredibly successful career (PA)

Michael married his wife Mary in 1959 and went on to have three sons together, though their marriage wasn't always easy, especially for Mary. In a candid interview with the Daily Mail in 2008, Michael opened up about his problems with alcohol. He admitted that through their whole relationship, Mary worried about his "capacity for partying" and "boozing".

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The TV presenter was a heavy drinker and didn't realise he was unhappy at times, then Mary finally had enough and warned him that he was "ugly" when he was drunk. "Physically, emotionally - the works," she said, and described him as: "Not a fighting one, more likely to sit in the corner quoting Yeats. But it was taking its toll."

Parkinson's struggles from alcohol abuse to Helen Mirren feud and TV disguise

Michael's wife Mary was worried about him 'boozing' and made him see a psychiatrist (PA)

To Mary's surprise, she managed to convince him to see a psychiatrist, but Michael said: "He didn't tell me anything I didn't already know." In another interview, Michael admitted that he found it "easy to stop" turning to alcohol. He told The Telegraph that he had been unaware of the heartache he was causing his family for a long while.

"I was too drunk to realise. When you're drinking, where are you? You're not right. You're somebody else," he said. "I never thought that would happen to me because I didn't come from a drinking family - my dad hardly drank at all."

Helen Mirren feud

Michael infamously had a TV clash with actress Helen Mirren when he called her a 'sex queen' (BBC)

In 1975, Michael had a famous TV clash with actress Helen Mirren on air, when he introduced her to his audience as the 'sex queen' of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and told her that she was good at 'sluttish eroticism'. When Michael asked if her 'equipment' got in the way of being recognised as a serious actress, she fired back: "Serious actresses can't have big bosoms, is that what you mean?"

It was a showdown that made headlines, and over four decades later, he addressed it in a Mirror interview. He said: "We certainly made up, that was in 2006 or something like that, when we decided that we'd both like to look at the show again, and we did, and we just cringed because it was just, 'Oh my God'. And I reminded myself what I'd thought, and I didn't handle it very well at all, but it was when she walked on with a feather bower on.

"But really what I was thinking, because I was what, 40, and she was about just 20 or something like that, what I was really thinking, I was like a dad saying, 'You're not going out like that are you?' You know it was that kind of feeling, and it wasn't sort of sexist, what do they know these people. So from that point, again it was honest television, honest reaction you know.

"And she's made the best of it because, and quite rightly so because I was rude to her and not nice to her, and similarly she, I think, also said to me you know, 'Neither of us did well there, did we?' And I said, 'No.' We left it at that."

Television 'disguise'

He admitted that he had changed as a person because of the fame and his persona was a 'disguise' (PA)

Michael was open about admitting that fame had changed him as a person, and once said that he didn't recognise himself on television. Appearing on BBC Breakfast last year, he said that he was sick of seeing his former TV clips. "Because I don't recognise the person. It's a disguise, this is a disguise. All of it," he revealed.

"You're not yourself at all, it changes you, no matter how considerate you might be of the problems of being famous, it changes you and it's bound to." He explained that being in the spotlight and receiving hate can have a huge impact on your personality. "Just people's reaction to you and it makes you sometimes a worse person than you are," he said.

Michael revealed that he was prouder of the work he had done as a writer than a television presenter. "Writing never did that at all, writing challenges you all the time to actually do it properly," he said, adding: "It's a different thing I know, but from my point of view, I'm much more proud of what I've done as a writer than I am as a TV person."