Famous 70 year olds

A heartbroken Crufts presenter has told how he has been ousted because 'Channel 4 want a younger team'. Peter Purves found out this week he is to be axed from the nearly 70-year-old TV show which he has nurtured for more than half its life. The 80-year-old said he felt 'upset and angry' by the decision and 'don't believe that because you reach a certain age, your talent, your skill.. should just be dismissed'. Peter Purves (pictured on GMB today) found out this week he is to be axed from the nearly 70-year-old TV show which he has nurtured for more than half its life Mr Purves told ITV's Good Morning Britain today: 'I believe that the diktat that's probably come from Channel 4 is we want a younger presentation team. 'I know that that was said, no one's written it down for me, but I know that's been said. Channel 4 want a younger presentation team, so I had to go. 'I do a number of great big outdoor events, the Countryfile Live event at Blenheim Palace. I hope that I carry on … [Read more...] about ‘Channel 4 want a younger presentation team, so I had to go’: Peter Purves, 80, tells GMB he was ‘stunned’ to lose Crufts presenting role after 41 years as Piers Morgan launches a campaign to keep him on the dog show coverage

In the Porter's Lodge at Eton, a surprisingly small, panelled room that guards the main entrance to probably the world's most famous and self-conscious school, a recent issue of the Week magazine lies on a table between two chairs for visitors. On the cover is a cartoon of David Cameron, the 19th Old Etonian to be British prime minister, and a photo of the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who may become the 20th. The magazine is well-thumbed: outsiders remain as fascinated by Eton's influence as the school is. On the official Eton website, an elegant sales brochure with pictures of sunlit old school walls and pupils in their ancient, photogenic uniforms, there is an extensive section on "famous Old Etonians". The list of most recent "OEs" is startling, even to anyone well aware that elite Britain can be narrow. There are smooth media grandees (Geordie Greig, Nicholas Coleridge) and prickly dissenters (the New Left Review veteran Perry Anderson); lifestyle-sellers both macho … [Read more...] about Eton: why the old boys’ network still flourishes

CAITLYN Jenner fought back tears on the I'm A Celebrity spin-off as the star spoke about how she hoped to be a "positive inspiration" to viewers. The 70-year-old appeared on Extra Camp, where her frankness won her a round of applause from the crew during an interview with Emily Atack. She said: "One of the reasons I wanted to do this show is because obviously I'm trans and I've had to deal with this all my life. "There's a lot of other people that are behind closed doors. Everybody's got stuff and everybody's got things that they have to deal with. "I wanted to be a positive inspiration to people, that you know what you can have differences, you can have issues, but just live your life authentically. "It doesn't mean it's the end of your life, that you can go out, you can do stuff like this, you can be in the public eye. There is a life after it."Caitlyn got choked up as she added: "You just wake up in the morning, and try to be yourself." One fan tweeted: "Caitlyn’s interview … [Read more...] about Caitlyn Jenner fights back tears as she gives emotional speech while I’m A Celeb crew applaud on Extra Camp

Among the characters created by the American pioneer of comic books and graphic novels Will Eisner, who has died aged 87, following a quadruple heart bypass, the most famous and influential was The Spirit, a crimefighter dressed in a suit, fedora and the concession of a small blue eyemask. The Spirit's weekly stories captivated millions of readers worldwide with their innovative storytelling techniques and sympathetic portrayal of the human condition. Eisner went on to expand the educational applications of comics and to establish the modern graphic novel movement. He believed in the literary potential of what he termed "sequential art" and strove to demonstrate this throughout his nearly 70 years in the field. Born to Jewish immigrants in Brooklyn, New York, Eisner grew up in the Bronx amid the struggles of depression-era tenement life, an experience that he would draw on repeatedly. After high school, he began contributing original stories to some of the earliest comic books in the … [Read more...] about Will Eisner

Grand, ungainly and defiantly young – this is the art of Rose Wylie. It is a strange and anomalous combination, especially since she is now 83. Looking at her enormous canvases, which might show a park bench, a film star surrounded by flying ears or a biscuit on its way into someone’s open mouth, you reel at the sheer directness of the painting, presented with all the primitive force of a child’s drawing. Her works are crude and joyous, and as awkward as she wants them to be. They are also catnip for collectors, critics and students alike. Wylie found fame late, winning the Paul Hamlyn, Charles Wollaston and John Moores prizes for painting in her 70s and 80s. Born in Kent, where she still lives, her career was interrupted by motherhood for many years, and she only completed her MA at the age of 47. The earliest work in this retrospective dates only as far back as 1997 – a yellow bird peering out of some clumsily painted branches, but at just the right angle to … [Read more...] about Rose Wylie: Quack Quack review – crude, joyous spontaneity