Who was Victor Lewis-Smith? Veteran journalist and humorist passed away at age of 65

Victor Lewis Smith died on Saturday in Bruges at the age of 65 years following a brief illness. Victor Lewis Smith was a writer, presenter, and humorist.

Victor began his career with the BBC.

His weird comic style influenced comedians such as Sacha Baron Cohen. Monty Don, the host of BBC Gardener’s World, paid homage to Mr Lewis-Smith, calling him biting, extremely unpleasant, and above all, incredibly humorous.

Victor went to Radio 4 after presenting for Radio York, where he was a staff producer for Midweek and Start The Week in the mid-1980s. He contributed his anarchistic approach to the long-running programme Loose Ends.


He subsequently spent more than 15 years as the London Evening Standard’s leading television critic and a decade as a writer for the Daily Mirror. He also oversaw Associated-Rediffusion Productions, responsible for Channel 4 shows, including TV Offal and Keith Meets... with stand-up Keith Allen.



But his prank phone calls as part of his radio performances stayed with many people. Harrods and the television series Jim’ll Fix It, starring paedophile predator Jimmy Savile.

It was recently discovered that he posed as astronomer Stephen Hawking, using the same synthetic voice technology as the professor, to dupe Princess Diana. After being held in a safe for two decades, their freewheeling talk, including the present King and the Clinton family, was fully revealed in 2015.

FAQs:

1. Who are Victor’s family members?
   He has a wife, Virginia and a daughter Lucia.
2. When will Hitler’s Jazz Band televise?
   It will be televised on Sky Arts on December 14 at 21:00.