DAVID ATTENBOROUGH: BIOGRAPHY AND MAIN DOCUMENTARIES - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

David Attenborough is a British naturalist who has dedicated his career to documenting life on Earth and introducing it to the masses through television. He is considered one of the pioneers in the world of documentaries.

This is so due to the great success of his idea of ​​filming animals alive in the wild and in captivity, to later present them in the British television program called Zoo Quest, which aired between 1954 and 1963.

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website - www.dfat.gov.au, via Wikimedia Commons

His career began with the major BBC television network, where he became a producer and director. Later, thanks to his extensive knowledge about nature and a very original way of presenting it to viewers, he made his way as an independent. This was the most important stage of his career, when documentaries were presented that still delight audiences worldwide.

It has been characterized by coming into contact with animals, sharing the same space and experiences. Hence, his legacy has served as the basis for the television industry, as well as for the knowledge and conservation of the environment.

Biography

David Attenborough was born in the city of London on May 8, 1926, he is the middle brother of three sons of Professor Frederick Attenborough, who was director of the University of Leicester, on whose campus his children grew up.

His older brother was Richard Attenborough, a famous film director, producer and actor who won numerous awards: two Oscars, several BAFTAs and Golden Globes. His younger brother, John, served in the business world as a senior manager at Alfa Romeo, car company.

In addition, during the Second World War the Attenborough couple decided to host two young Jewish refugees. Currently, only David survives.

the beginning

David was always fascinated by the natural world: he collected rocks and fossils. At age 7, the archaeologist Jacquetta Hawkes encouraged him to continue his collection by admiring what the young man already had in his hands.

One of his adoptive sisters gave him a piece of amber that contained fossil remains. This curious rock was the protagonist of the program The amber time machine, some fifty years after the young David had it in his hands.

Studies

In Leicester he completed his first studies at the Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys. He then managed to enter Clare College, one of the oldest colleges at the University of Cambridge. There he obtained the degree in Natural Sciences.

Like his older brother, in 1947 he completed military service in the British Royal Navy. This service lasted a couple of years.

A lifelong love

In 1950 he married Jane Elizabeth Ebsworth Oriel, with whom he had two children: Robert and Susan. Jane, a native of Merthir Tydfil, Wales, was the naturalist's only love. They were together until 1997, when she passed away after a brain hemorrhage at age 70.

As soon as David learned of his wife's delicate condition, he flew in from New Zealand. Upon arriving at the hospital, he found Jane in a coma. Attenborough spent the whole night with her, talking to her, until the next day Jane passed away.

His home from the BBC

Although he had seen only one television program in his life, he began his television career as an apprentice at the BBC in 1952, on the main UK network.

There he has built his career of more than 70 years and has become an icon of the entertainment business. At the BBC he has held management positions as manager of human talent distribution for BBC2 and director of programming in 1960 and 1970.

At the forefront of technology

In addition to a prolific filmography, Attenborough is recognized for being part of the technological forefront of television. For example, in 1965 he marked a milestone in the history of modernity: he supervised the first broadcasts of color television in Europe on the BBC2 channel.

In addition, he developed modern camera techniques, as well as implemented drone and 3D recordings. His documentaries are made with the technology and techniques of super international film productions.

Recognitions

David Attenborough has become a television legend, chasing and telling nature's most impressive stories with his very personal stamp. His career as a scientist, researcher, naturalist and popularizer of life on Earth has earned him countless recognitions and awards.

In 1985, Queen Elizabeth II of England awarded him the title of Knight of the British Empire, and in 2005 he obtained the Order of Merit.

He has received numerous BAFTA awards, of which he has been the only one to win them by making television in different formats: black and white, color and 3D. He was also honored with the Peabody Award in 2014.

He is doctor honoris causa by various houses of studies and has obtained different medals of merit, such as the gold medal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, that of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society and that of the Royal Society of Geography, this last in UK.

In 2009 he received the Prince of Asturias Award for Social Sciences as a merit for considering himself a wide-ranging scientific disseminator worldwide, as well as a pioneer in the production of documentaries about life on Earth. His commitment to conserving nature earned him this important recognition.

Main documentaries

David Attenborough's extensive career, with more than seventy years on television, has been characterized by an abundant audiovisual production, which has always been noted for its investigative depth, the tone of great adventure and the use of avant-garde techniques and technology.

Among his main documentaries, the following stand out:

Zoo quest

It was the first BBC program where Attenborough featured prominently. It was on the air for approximately 9 years, beginning in 1954, and its central axis was the naturalist's trips to different parts of the world in search of animals for British zoos together with a select group of workers from the London zoo.

On his travels he also collected information on local animals, which was later presented as part of the program.

It was the most popular wildlife show of its time in Britain and established Attenborough's career as a nature documentary presenter, bringing her to the screen like never before.

Life on Earth

This acclaimed British television series was first presented in January 1979 with the participation of the BBC, Warner Bros and Reiner Moritz Productions.

It was presented on the small screen with 13 episodes of almost an hour and represents the first program of the Life series.

Perhaps the most important moment in the entire series occurs when he interacts closely with primates at the foot of a volcano in Rwanda.

An estimated 500 million people have seen the acclaimed series, primarily for the innovative cinematographic techniques and stunning photography to show the animals in their natural habitats.

The living planet

The Living Planet was written, directed and presented by Attenborough and represents the second installment in the Life series.

It was presented to the public by the BBC in 1984 and its 12 chapters of approximately 50 minutes tell how living things adapt to their environment.

In this series his letter of introduction is maintained: traveling around the world to the most incredible places to get in touch with the different species of the plant and animal world.

He visited countries like Sudan, where the whole team had to parachute, and places as emblematic as the Himalayas, where everyone walked up for several days to get the best shots.

For the first time, special diving equipment was included, whereby Attenborough could speak and be seen through the camera lens.

The trials of life

This series was launched in 1990 and has a dozen 50-minute chapters. Represents the third installment in the Life series.

The central axis of the series is animal behavior, which is why they show different milestones in the life of the species from the moment of their birth to their death. In this series, Attenborough required almost 4 years to shoot and traveled almost 500 thousand kilometers.

Among the main contributions, he highlighted the risk that the team took when filming a few meters away, and sometimes in the water, how orcas hunt sea lions. It is the first time in history that someone takes such a risk and presents it on television.

With these deliveries, Attenborough became the most important representative of the documentary genre on television, and thus continued his career with important series such as Life in the freezer (1993), The private life of plants (1995), The life of birds (1998), The life of mammals (2002–03), Life in the undergrowth (2005), and Life in cold blood (2008).

The blue planet

Special mention deserves The blue planet, presented to the public in 2001. In this saga the naturalist took millions of people to visit the wonders of the deep sea through the screen and it was the first time that some species were captured in images, as is the case with the hairy Lophiiform fish and the Dumbo octopus.

More recently, Attenborough has served as a narrator on other acclaimed shows such as Planet Earth and Blue planet II, always a draw for fans of his work.

References

1. "Biography of David Attenborough" (June 4, 2009) on ABC. Retrieved September 20, 2018 from ABC: abc.es
2. "Biography: Sir David Attenborough" on BBC. Retrieved September 20, 2018 from BBC: bbc.co.uk
3. "David Attenborough" in Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved September 20, 2018 from Encyclopedia Britannica: britannica.com
4. "9 ways in which the naturalist David Attenborough has changed our lives" (8 May 2016) on the BBC. Retrieved September 20, 2018 from BBC: bbc.com
5. "21 little-known facts about the legendary Sir David Attenborough" (January 2018) in ShortList. Retrieved September 20, 2018 from ShortList: shortlist.com