Esther Rantzen Quotes

1940–2026 England

Dame Esther Louise Rantzen DBE (22 June 1940 – 30 September 2026) was an English journalist and television presenter, who hosted the BBC television series That's Life! for 21 years, from 1973 until 1994. For several decades, she has worked with charitable causes and founded the charities Childline, a helpline for children, which she founded in 1986, and The Silver Line, designed to combat loneliness in older people's lives, which she established in November 2012.

England
Journalists

Random Esther Rantzen quote

2 quotes

When I started as a researcher in the BBC, I was working for an editor who was a self-confessed misogynist. He used to practise shooting by aiming his air gun at an aerosol can balanced just over my head. I made it a matter of pride not to flinch as the pellets whizzed by.

The Nationwide editor, Michael Bunce, asked me if there was any particular film I'd like to make for them, so I asked if they would send me to Belfast to report on the Troubles. He said he would need time to think about it. Then he rang me back: "The thing is, Esther, what would you wear?" It was such a serious dilemma, he decided I couldn't film there.

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Esther Rantzen (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.