Profile of Kent Walton on Famous Like Me

Kent Walton (Kenneth Walton Beckett) (22 August 1917 - 24 August 2003) was a British television sports commentator and presenter.

Despite affecting a transatlantic accent which lead many to believe he was Canadian, he was in fact born in Cairo, Egypt, the son of the Minister for Finance in the colonial government. He was educated at public school in England, and attended the Embassy School for Acting before joining the Royal Air Force on the outbreak of war in 1939. He acquired his accent after mixing with Canadian airmen.

After the end of the war he briefly returned to acting, before turning his hand to tennis and football commentary. He made his television wrestling commentary debut on the new ITV network in November 1955, a job he was to keep for the next 33 years.

British "all-in" wrestling was very different from the American WWF (now WWE) style, and the theatrical style of the "sport" (often derisively named as such in quotes) frequently led to arguments in homes and pubs around the country as to whether or not the bouts were rigged. At its peak in the 1970s, ITV's wrestling coverage could command an audience of up to 12 million between the football half-time and full-time results spots (4.00 - 4.40 p.m.) on Saturday afternoons. Reportedly, fans of the show, and of Walton, included Margaret Thatcher, Frank Sinatra, and the Queen.

Enthusiasm for wrestling was not shared by ITVs' Head of Sport, Greg Dyke, and in 1988 he dropped the sport from the schedules, a blow from which it never recovered.

Apart from wrestling, Kent Walton also spent time as a disc jockey on Radio Luxembourg, and for a short time presented two popular music TV shows, Honey Hit Parade and Cool for Cats.

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