Len Martin
Encyclopedia
The voice of Len Martin (17 April 1919 – 21 August 1995) was famous in the UK
for reading out the football results, associated football pools
statistics and horse-racing results on the BBC's Saturday afternoon sports programme, Grandstand
.
Martin was born in Australia
where he began his broadcasting career. He came to England on holiday in 1953 for the Coronation and got a call from the BBC the day before he was due to sail for Australia. He never used his return ticket home, and only once went back to Australia, on holiday. He performed his Grandstand role from the programme's very first edition in 1958 until his death in 1995. Martin was well-known for his intonation when reading the scores. It was totally clear from the way in which he presented the home team name followed by number of goals precisely whether the opponents had won, lost or drawn. He often said that his nightmare result was: Forfar 4, East Fife 5. He was succeeded by Tim Gudgin
who also used the distinct BBC intonation.
In addition to his role on Grandstand, Martin was a voice-over artist heard on Movietone
newsreels. He also used to run four flights of stairs at Lime Grove Studios
after Grandstand to introduce Simon Dee
, with 'Simon' elongated, in the distinctive manner.
One of Len Martin's three brothers, Noel Martin, a gifted painter, also settled in the UK, after a long career at sea.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
for reading out the football results, associated football pools
Football pools
A football pool, often collectively referred to as "the pools", is a betting pool based on predicting the outcome of top-level association football matches set to take place in the coming week. The pools are typically cheap to enter, with the potential to win huge money. Entries were traditionally...
statistics and horse-racing results on the BBC's Saturday afternoon sports programme, Grandstand
Grandstand (BBC)
Grandstand was a British television sport programme. Broadcast between 1958 and 2007, it was one of the BBC's longest running sports shows, alongside BBC Sports Personality of the Year.Its first presenter was Peter Dimmock...
.
Martin was born in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
where he began his broadcasting career. He came to England on holiday in 1953 for the Coronation and got a call from the BBC the day before he was due to sail for Australia. He never used his return ticket home, and only once went back to Australia, on holiday. He performed his Grandstand role from the programme's very first edition in 1958 until his death in 1995. Martin was well-known for his intonation when reading the scores. It was totally clear from the way in which he presented the home team name followed by number of goals precisely whether the opponents had won, lost or drawn. He often said that his nightmare result was: Forfar 4, East Fife 5. He was succeeded by Tim Gudgin
Tim Gudgin
Tim Gudgin is a retired British radio presenter and voiceover artist. He was best known for announcing the football results on the BBC sports programmes Grandstand and Final Score between 1995 and 2011...
who also used the distinct BBC intonation.
In addition to his role on Grandstand, Martin was a voice-over artist heard on Movietone
Movietone News
Movietone News is a newsreel that ran from 1928 to 1963 in the United States, and from 1929 to 1979 in the United Kingdom.-History:It is known in the U.S. as Fox Movietone News, produced cinema, sound newsreels from 1928 to 1963 in the U.S., from 1929 to 1979 in the UK , and from 1929 to 1975 in...
newsreels. He also used to run four flights of stairs at Lime Grove Studios
Lime Grove Studios
Lime Grove Studios was a film studio complex built by the Gaumont Film Company in 1915 situated in a street named Lime Grove, inShepherd's Bush, west London, north of Hammersmith and described by Gaumont as "the finest studio in Great Britain and the first building ever put up in this country...
after Grandstand to introduce Simon Dee
Simon Dee
Cyril Nicholas Henty-Dodd , better known by his stage name Simon Dee, was a British television interviewer and radio disc jockey who hosted a twice-weekly BBC TV chat show, Dee Time in the late 1960s...
, with 'Simon' elongated, in the distinctive manner.
One of Len Martin's three brothers, Noel Martin, a gifted painter, also settled in the UK, after a long career at sea.