Des Lynam was born Desmond Lynam, to Edward and Gertrude, WHO were each nurses battling state in eire. Before the Second warfare, once Lynam was four, the family enraptured to city, wherever his folks had found work.
His father joined Brits Army and was a part of the medical corps. Lynam grew up with a fascination for newspapermen within the movies, with their trench coats and hats, and unreal of 1 day changing into a journalist. He attended city synchronic linguistics college and determined against attending to university, one thing he later regretted.
In 1965, at age 23, he married his geographical area sweetheart, Susan Skinner, and that they had a son, Saint Patrick (born 1970, currently a businessman). the wedding began to interrupt down in 1972, as a result of Lynam’s career commitments, and that they were unmarried in 1974.
Working concisely in banking and so as associate degree insurance salesperson, he became associate degree associate of the hired Insurance Institute associate degreed an inspector. within the late Nineteen Sixties, he began freelance add radio, a lot of as a hobby than employment, however it before long became apparent that broadcasting was what he really wished to try and do. His initial job was with Radio city in 1968, presenting the Sabbatum night sports report. He worked for the currently defunct Radio Carolean before starting his BBC career as a boxing commentator, moving on to host ‘Sports Report’ on Radio two from 1969 to 1978.
Switching to tv in 1978, he given BBC’s ‘Grandstand’ on Saturdays. it had been in 1984, once David Coleman left the BBC, that Lynam really became the face of BBC Sport. once the BBC determined in 1992 to finish ‘Grandstand’ once forty eight years, Lynam wasn't stunned, job the show a archosaurian reptile. He conjointly given ’Sportsnight’ from 1991 to 1997 and ‘Match of the Day’ from 1988 to 1999.
Lynam has coated each major sporting event throughout his career, fronting suburb, the Grand National, the Olympic Games (1980-1998) and soccer World Cup (1982-1998), furthermore as alternative non-sporting programmes, like ‘Points of View’ and ‘The vacation Programme’. He was solid in an exceedingly 1990 episode of the tv series ‘Alas Smith & Jones’, that ran from 1984 to 1998 and marked Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones. In 1996, he was voted high Presenter of All Time in an exceedingly viewer’s poll, marking sixty years of BBC tv.
In a move removed from sports, in 1998 Lynam recorded associate degree album of twenty-two poetry readings, to a full musical organisation accompaniment. The poets on the album enclosed Roald Dahl, WH Wystan Hugh Auden and Sir John Betjeman. The last reading on the album is ‘The Scilly Isles’, a verse form Lynam wrote in protest against the Falklands War, in Christmas 1982 while on vacation in Kingdom of Spain. In 1998, he concisely came back to BBC Radio two to gift the 5-7pm Drivetime show, however solely on Fridays, as Johnnie Walker given the show from Mondays to Thursdays. that very same year, he was solid in an exceedingly anaglyph role in Arthur Smith’s film for the BBC, ‘My Summer with Des’ (1998).
After a 30-year partnership with BBC, and seeking a brand new challenge, Lynam created a extremely promulgated move in change of integrity rival ITV in 1999. He became their main soccer presenter, together with coverage of the UEFA Champions League, monetary unit 2002 and also the solfa syllable Premier League. In 2000, he hosted the BAFTA tv awards. Having been with ITV for four and a 0.5 years, at age 61, Lynam declared in 2004 that he was deed tv presenting once monetary unit 2004, due to his age.
He began freelance broadcasting in Gregorian calendar month 2004 and went on to host ‘We’ll Meet Again’, BBC1’s might 2005 coverage of the sixtieth day of VE Day, the celebration of the top of warfare II. In Gregorian calendar month 2005, he was guest presenter for the third time of associate degree episode of BBC quiz show ‘Have I Got News for You’ and in Gregorian calendar month and Gregorian calendar month 2005, co-hosted with Sir David Frost the series ‘The World’s Greatest Sporting Legend’ on Sky One.
On twenty one August 2004, to the nice delight of sports fans round the country, he rejoined BBC Radio 5 Live to gift a brand new Sabbatum show, interviewing high names within the sporting world. The show, referred to as ‘Des Meets…’, was given in Lynam’s relaxed, informal vogue and conjointly broadcast on digital tv. In April 2005, Lynam came back to suburb reportage for Radio 5 Live for its coverage of the 2005 Championships. He had been the acquainted voice of suburb within the Seventies, before moving on to hide the tournament for BBC tv, and was welcome back with open arms.
Moving once more to tv in Sept 2005, he became host of Channel four tv quiz show ‘Countdown’, following the death once surgical process of Richard Whitely, WHO had hosted the show for twenty three years, since its beginning at Channel 4’s launch in 1982. Lynam had invariably been a lover of the show and was stunned and flattered by the supply. He before long endeared himself to the viewers and worked well with co-star Carol Vorderman, whom he had known for 10 years.
Only a year later, in Sept 2006 at age sixty four, Lynam declared his departure from ‘Countdown’ at Christmas 2006, breaking his original biennial contract. He explicit that he had completely enjoyed his time on ‘Countdown’, job it associate degree intelligent and friendly show, however it had been time for him to travel. Having to visit the studios in Leeds, from his zero in West Sussex and so recording 5 shows in an exceedingly day, was changing into wearying and Lynam told the Daily Mirror, "I'm attending to withdraw and save the wear and tear and tear”.
