Sarah Greene
Encyclopedia
Sarah Greene is a British television personality well known for presenting live TV: long-running series e.g. Blue Peter
, from 19 May 1980 until 27 June 1983, Saturday Superstore
, Going Live for 10 years and big event/awards shows.
, England
, the daughter of Welsh
DIY
expert Harry Greene
and actress Marjie Lawrence. She is sister of presenter Laura Greene
. Sarah was educated at the Gospel Oak
Primary School and the Grey Coat Hospital
school, London, while also pursuing child acting roles. She graduated with a degree in Drama from University of Hull
. She then pursued acting roles in Birmingham
, Manchester
and London.
/ITV
), which began in January. She first appeared on Blue Peter
in the BBC
adaptation of Pamela Brown
's The Swish of the Curtain
after which she was asked by then producer Biddy Baxter
to be the replacement for the outgoing Tina Heath
. At the time Greene was the youngest ever presenter of Blue Peter
, aged 22 and within two weeks was filming in Cornwall for the show. Programme won BAFTA during Greene's 3 year tenure. After leaving Blue Peter
, she presented Saturday Superstore
with Mike Read
, and subsequently co-presented Going Live!
with Phillip Schofield
. It was during her time on Going Live!
that Sarah won "Best Female on TV" SOS Award 3 years running. She then began to appear in television commercials for Nescafe
coffee. Later, she fronted Channel 4
's popular daytime antiques programme Collectors Lot
.
On September 10 1988 Greene and her partner Mike Smith
(television and radio presenter) were seriously injured in a helicopter accident in Gloucestershire
. The couple spent a number of weeks in hospital before Greene returned to present Going Live!
while still in plaster. Soon after the accident the couple became engaged and were married the following year.
In addition to presenting magazine shows such as the BBC
's Pebble Mill At One
, Greene has acted in programmes such as the Doctor Who
serial Attack of the Cybermen
, Casualty, Brookside
and French & Saunders
. In 1992 she combined her talents in a hoax paranormal programme called Ghostwatch
, alongside Smith and talk-show host Michael Parkinson
. Greene and Smith made a foray into feature films in The Man Who Knew Too Little
(1997), starring Bill Murray
; they played presenters of The Theatre Of Life, a fictional English TV show which promised the participant a role in a crime drama.
In 1996 Sarah began a four year partnership with The Food Network, hosting a daily news, debate and magazine show.
More recently, Greene appeared in the ITV
programme Have I Been Here Before?
and was also a regular presenter on magazine show This Morning
. She has also presented Discovery Home & Health's Weddings Live, an annual 6-hour broadcast which showcases several weddings live from across the country, from 2005 to 2007. Fellow presenters include Brendan Courtney
and celebrity stylists such as Armand Beasley.
Partnered with Fred Palascak, Sarah competed in the 2008 ITV Dancing on Ice
competition.
Sarah took part in an episode of BBC Wales
's Coming Home programme, first shown on December 22 2010. Her mother had died a month before filming but she decided to continue the process, alongside her 87-year old father. The programme was able to trace her family tree back to the 17th century in Wales.
Blue Peter
Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...
, from 19 May 1980 until 27 June 1983, Saturday Superstore
Saturday Superstore
Saturday Superstore was a children's television series, broadcast on BBC1 from 1982 until 1987. It was shown on Saturday mornings with presenters including Mike Read, Sarah Greene, Keith Chegwin and John Craven. The show was very similar to its predecessor Multi-Coloured Swap Shop.A regular spot on...
, Going Live for 10 years and big event/awards shows.
Early life and career
Greene was born in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the daughter of Welsh
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
DIY
Do it yourself
Do it yourself is a term used to describe building, modifying, or repairing of something without the aid of experts or professionals...
expert Harry Greene
Harry Greene
Harry W. Greene is a herpetologist, currently working as a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Cornell University....
and actress Marjie Lawrence. She is sister of presenter Laura Greene
Laura Greene
- Early life and career :Greene was born in London, England, the daughter of Welsh DIY expert Harry Greene and actress Marjie Lawrence. She is sister of presenter Sarah. Laura was educated at the Gospel Oak Primary School and the Grey Coat Hospital school, London, while also pursuing child acting...
. Sarah was educated at the Gospel Oak
Gospel Oak
Gospel Oak is an inner urban area of north London in the London Borough of Camden below Hampstead Heath. It is bordered by the more affluent areas of Belsize Park to the west, Kentish Town to the south, Eastern Hampstead to the North and Dartmouth Park and Tufnell Park to the east...
Primary School and the Grey Coat Hospital
Grey Coat Hospital
The Grey Coat Hospital is a Church of England comprehensive secondary school for girls in Westminster, London, England.-History:The school was founded on St. Andrew's Day in 1698. Eight members of the congregation of St. Margaret's, Westminster donated towards the founding of the school, initially...
school, London, while also pursuing child acting roles. She graduated with a degree in Drama from University of Hull
University of Hull
The University of Hull, known informally as Hull University, is an English university, founded in 1927, located in Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire...
. She then pursued acting roles in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
and London.
Television career
In early 1980, Greene had a role on the daytime drama Together (Southern TelevisionSouthern Television
Southern Television was the first ITV broadcasting licence holder for the south and south-east of England from 30 August 1958 until the night of 31 December 1981. The company was launched as Southern Television Limited and the title Southern Television was consistently used on-air throughout its life...
/ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
), which began in January. She first appeared on Blue Peter
Blue Peter
Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...
in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
adaptation of Pamela Brown
Pamela Brown (writer)
Pamela Brown was a British writer, actress and television producer.-Literary career:Pamela Brown was just 13 when she started writing her first book, The Swish of the Curtain, in 1938. A year later, when World War II broke out, she left Colchester County High School and went to live in Wales with...
's The Swish of the Curtain
The Swish of the Curtain
The Swish of the Curtain is a children's novel by Pamela Brown . It was begun in 1938 when the author was 14 but was not published until 1941. The novel has been reprinted many times and has been adapted for television and radio...
after which she was asked by then producer Biddy Baxter
Biddy Baxter
Biddy Baxter MBE is best known as the former editor of the long-running popular BBC One children’s magazine show Blue Peter, a position she held from 1965 to 1988. She was also its producer from 1962 to 1965...
to be the replacement for the outgoing Tina Heath
Tina Heath
Tina Heath is a British actress and former television presenter. In 1973, she played the title role in the popular children's television serial Lizzie Dripping after first playing the character in an episode of Jackanory Playhouse in 1972; her character was supposed to be 12 years old, but in fact...
. At the time Greene was the youngest ever presenter of Blue Peter
Blue Peter
Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...
, aged 22 and within two weeks was filming in Cornwall for the show. Programme won BAFTA during Greene's 3 year tenure. After leaving Blue Peter
Blue Peter
Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...
, she presented Saturday Superstore
Saturday Superstore
Saturday Superstore was a children's television series, broadcast on BBC1 from 1982 until 1987. It was shown on Saturday mornings with presenters including Mike Read, Sarah Greene, Keith Chegwin and John Craven. The show was very similar to its predecessor Multi-Coloured Swap Shop.A regular spot on...
with Mike Read
Mike Read
Michael David Kenneth Read is an English radio disc jockey, writer, journalist and television presenter.-Early life:...
, and subsequently co-presented Going Live!
Going Live!
Going Live! was a Saturday morning magazine show, broadcast on BBC1 between 1987 and 1993. It was presented by Phillip Schofield and Sarah Greene.Other presenters included Trevor and Simon, Peter Simon, Emma Forbes, and puppet Gordon the Gopher....
with Phillip Schofield
Phillip Schofield
Phillip Bryan Schofield is an English broadcaster and television personality best known for presenting shows such as This Morning, Dancing on Ice, and various game shows including The Cube.-Early life and career:...
. It was during her time on Going Live!
Going Live!
Going Live! was a Saturday morning magazine show, broadcast on BBC1 between 1987 and 1993. It was presented by Phillip Schofield and Sarah Greene.Other presenters included Trevor and Simon, Peter Simon, Emma Forbes, and puppet Gordon the Gopher....
that Sarah won "Best Female on TV" SOS Award 3 years running. She then began to appear in television commercials for Nescafe
Nescafé
Nescafé is a brand of instant coffee made by Nestlé. It comes in the form of many different products. The name is a portmanteau of the words "Nestlé" and "café". Nestlé's flagship powdered coffee product was introduced in Switzerland on April 1, 1938 after being developed for seven or eight years...
coffee. Later, she fronted Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's popular daytime antiques programme Collectors Lot
Collectors Lot
Collectors Lot was a tv programme produced from 1997 to 2001 by Twofour Broadcast for the UKs Channel 4. Shown on weekday afternoons, the programme visited every corner of Britain to explore the weird and wonderful things that people choose to collect...
.
On September 10 1988 Greene and her partner Mike Smith
Mike Smith (television presenter)
Mike Smith is a British television, radio presenter, racing driver, pilot, and businessman.-Radio career:...
(television and radio presenter) were seriously injured in a helicopter accident in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
. The couple spent a number of weeks in hospital before Greene returned to present Going Live!
Going Live!
Going Live! was a Saturday morning magazine show, broadcast on BBC1 between 1987 and 1993. It was presented by Phillip Schofield and Sarah Greene.Other presenters included Trevor and Simon, Peter Simon, Emma Forbes, and puppet Gordon the Gopher....
while still in plaster. Soon after the accident the couple became engaged and were married the following year.
In addition to presenting magazine shows such as the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Pebble Mill At One
Pebble Mill at One
Pebble Mill at One was a popular British lunchtime chat show broadcast live originally on BBC2 before transferring to BBC1. It was produced from the Pebble Mill facilities of BBC Birmingham, and uniquely was hosted from the centre's main reception area rather than a traditional studio...
, Greene has acted in programmes such as the Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
serial Attack of the Cybermen
Attack of the Cybermen
Attack of the Cybermen is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two weekly parts from 5 January to 12 January 1985. It opened Season 22 of the series...
, Casualty, Brookside
Brookside
Brookside is a defunct British soap opera set in Liverpool, England. The series began on the launch night of Channel 4 on 2 November 1982, and ran for 21 years until 4 November 2003...
and French & Saunders
French & Saunders
French and Saunders is a British sketch comedy television show written by and starring comic duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. It is also the name by which the performers are known on the occasions when they appear elsewhere as a double act....
. In 1992 she combined her talents in a hoax paranormal programme called Ghostwatch
Ghostwatch
Ghostwatch is a British reality–horror/mockumentary television movie, first broadcast on BBC1 on 31 October , 1992.Despite having been recorded weeks in advance, the narrative was presented as 'live' television...
, alongside Smith and talk-show host Michael Parkinson
Michael Parkinson
Sir Michael Parkinson, CBE is an English broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his interview programme, Parkinson, from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007.- Early life :...
. Greene and Smith made a foray into feature films in The Man Who Knew Too Little
The Man Who Knew Too Little
The Man Who Knew Too Little is a 1997 American comedy espionage film starring Bill Murray, directed by Jon Amiel, and written by Robert Farrar and Howard Franklin...
(1997), starring Bill Murray
Bill Murray
William James "Bill" Murray is an American actor and comedian. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live in which he earned an Emmy Award and later went on to star in a number of critically and commercially successful comedic films, including Caddyshack , Ghostbusters , and...
; they played presenters of The Theatre Of Life, a fictional English TV show which promised the participant a role in a crime drama.
In 1996 Sarah began a four year partnership with The Food Network, hosting a daily news, debate and magazine show.
More recently, Greene appeared in the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
programme Have I Been Here Before?
Have I Been Here Before?
Have I Been Here Before? is an ITV daytime programme, presented by Phillip Schofield, made by ITV Productions. The programme offers celebrity guests the chance to see if they have lived before, in a past life...
and was also a regular presenter on magazine show This Morning
This Morning (TV series)
This Morning is a British daytime television programme broadcast on ITV. As of September 2011, its main presenters are Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, and Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes, with various other presenters standing in for illness or contributing to sections of the programme.The...
. She has also presented Discovery Home & Health's Weddings Live, an annual 6-hour broadcast which showcases several weddings live from across the country, from 2005 to 2007. Fellow presenters include Brendan Courtney
Brendan Courtney
Brendan Courtney is an Irish comedian and television presenter, the first openly gay presenter in Ireland. He has hosted Wanderlust on RTÉ Two, The Brendan Courtney Show on TV3, Playdate on ITV2 and Off the Rails on RTÉ One.-Career:Brendan began his career on RTÉ Two's Wanderlust and ITV1's Love...
and celebrity stylists such as Armand Beasley.
Partnered with Fred Palascak, Sarah competed in the 2008 ITV Dancing on Ice
Dancing on Ice
Dancing on Ice is a British television show co-hosted by Christine Bleakley and Philip Schofield, in which celebrities and their professional partners figure skate in front of a panel of judges. The format, devised by LWT and Granada Television, has been a prime-time hit in eight different...
competition.
Sarah took part in an episode of BBC Wales
BBC Wales
BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation for Wales. Based at Broadcasting House in the Llandaff area of Cardiff, it directly employs over 1200 people, and produces a broad range of television, radio and online services in both the Welsh and English languages.Outside...
's Coming Home programme, first shown on December 22 2010. Her mother had died a month before filming but she decided to continue the process, alongside her 87-year old father. The programme was able to trace her family tree back to the 17th century in Wales.
External links
- BBC - I Love Blue Peter - Sarah Greene presenter biography
- BBC -Gallery (Sarah Greene wears a pair of overalls over a T-shirt)
- Blue Peter tortoises (Sarah Greene appears right side); she wears a pair of overalls over a T-shirtT-shirtA T-shirt is a style of shirt. A T-shirt is buttonless and collarless, with short sleeves and frequently a round neck line....