Gay Byrne

Not to be confused with the Irish actor Gabriel Byrne.

Gay Byrne
Gay Byrne speaking at a public event in 2007
Byrne in 2007
Born
Gabriel Mary Byrne

(1934-08-05)5 August 1934
Rialto, Dublin, Ireland
Died4 November 2019(2019-11-04) (aged 85)
Howth, Dublin, Ireland
Resting placeSt. Fintan's Cemetery, Sutton, Dublin, Ireland
Other names
EducationScoil Treasa Naofa
Synge Street CBS
honorary doctorate in literature from Trinity College Dublin (1988)[3]
OccupationBroadcaster
Years active1958–2019
EmployerRaidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ)
Notable work
Board member ofChairman of the Road Safety Authority (2006–2014)
Spouse
​
(m. 1964)​
Children2

Gabriel Mary Byrne (5 August 1934 – 4 November 2019) was an Irish presenter and host of radio and television. His most notable role was as the first host of The Late Late Show over a 37-year period spanning 1962 until 1999. The Late Late Show is the world's longest-running live chat show.[4] He was affectionately known as "Uncle Gay",[1] "Gaybo"[2] or "Uncle Gaybo".[3][5] His time working in Britain with Granada Television saw him become the first person to introduce the Beatles on-screen, and Byrne was later the first to introduce Boyzone on-screen in 1993. According to Byrne, Paul McCartney asked him to be the Beatles' agent during a sound check for his show but he declined the offer.[6]

From 1973 until 1998, Byrne presented The Gay Byrne Hour – later The Gay Byrne Show when it expanded to two hours – on RTÉ Radio 1 each weekday morning. After retiring from his long-running radio and television shows, Byrne presented several other programmes, including Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, The Meaning of Life and For One Night Only on RTÉ One and Sunday Serenade/Sunday with Gay Byrne on RTÉ lyric fm. In 2006, he was elected Chairman of Ireland's Road Safety Authority. In his retirement he was described as the "Elder Lemon of Irish broadcasting".[7]

In 2010, The Irish Times said Byrne was "unquestionably the most influential radio and television man in the history of the Irish State".[3] He was approached to run in the 2011 Irish presidential election but declined to run, despite topping early opinion polls.[8][9]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference masterful_uncle_gay_enthralls_full_house was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference walking_on_air was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c d Byrne, Gay (13 February 2010). "The chameleon of Montrose". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 18 November 2010. Retrieved 13 February 2010.
  4. ^ Crowley, Sinéad (4 November 2019). "Veteran RTÉ broadcaster Gay Byrne dies aged 85". RTÉ.ie. Archived from the original on 4 November 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  5. ^ "Dima performs at The Late Late Show". Eurovision Song Contest. 31 May 2008. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  6. ^ "Gay Byrne's finest moments on The Late Late Show". rte.ie. 4 November 2019. Archived from the original on 5 November 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  7. ^ Courtney, Kevin (23 January 2010). "In God, we curry flavour". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 29 November 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2010. There's no special trick to Gay's interview technique – it's his status as the Elder Lemon of Irish broadcasting that elicits your trust. You can't imagine this format working with anyone who isn't already familiar with Gay's paternal persona. If he asked an American to talk about their faith, he might get the answer: "Well, Jay, in my new movie, coming to a cinema near you, my character is very much on a spiritual journey".
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference bbc_presidency was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference guardian_presidency was invoked but never defined (see the help page).