Farewell to TV pioneer George House (From The Northern Echo)

Farewell to TV pioneer George House

10:00am Friday 10th February 2012 in Northallerton News By Andy Walker

TRIBUTES have been paid to one of the pioneers of television news in the North-East, who has died at the age of 84.

George House was the first face seen by viewers of BBC bulletins in the region, when they were launched in 1959.

He worked on Look North, originally known as News From The North, for more than 15 years, where he developed a successful on-screen partnership with Mike Neville.

Born in Newcastle, Mr House spent his later years in Brompton, near Northallerton, North Yorkshire, with his partner, Sue Craven.

He died on Wednesday.

Present day Look North presenter Carol Malia led the tributes. The pair met in 2009, to mark the 50th anniversary of BBC bulletins in the region.

Ms Malia said: “That was the first time I had met George, but we immediately felt very familiar. He was reminiscing and I was doing the same. I remember thinking he was a man who had enjoyed his career and people still talk about him and Mike Neville. It was a privilege to have met George.”

Mr Neville said he couldn’t describe how close he and Mr House were. “What do you say when when someone you have loved for over 60 years, and all of a sudden they have gone?” he said.

Northern Echo writer John Hobbs worked with Mr House on an earlymorning radio news slot, called Newstalk, from the BBC studios in Newcastle, in the Sixties.

Mr House was one of the presenters of the programme, which was broadcast as a ten-minute opt-out from national radio.

Mr Hobbs said: “I recall George always being the quiet, deep-thinking professional, whose presentation skills were immaculate.

“But away from the microphone he had another side to him, a wonderful insight into the Geordie sense of humour that he and his friend and colleague Mike Neville demonstrated so successfully with Geordie sketches to audiences at Newcastle City Hall.

“One of George’s great and lasting talents as a broadcaster was an ability to work his way into the hearts of North-East households with little or no celebrity status.”