Sir David Frederick Attenborough is an English broadcaster and natural historian, who is well known for his informative and educational television programmes including Life, Natural World and Blue Planet.
His younger years: David’s early life
Born in born in Isleworth, Middlesex on May 8, 1926 to parents Frederick and Mary, David later moved to Leicester where his father was the principal of the University College. He was the middle of three sons and had an older brother, Richard, who became an actor and director, and a younger brother, John, who worked for car manufacturer Alfa Romeo.
With a keen interest in nature from a young age, David spent his childhood collecting fossils, stones and natural specimens and later won a scholarship to study Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge. After his studies, he served in the Royal Navy for two years before joining the BBC in 1950. You can read more fun facts about David Attenborough here.
Gallery: David Attenborough young
David Attenborough through the years
1 of 21David Attenborough in 1955
David with Jack Lester, the curator of London Zoo's reptile house, when they worked together on BBC Two's Zoo Quest.
2 of 21David Attenborough in 1958
While working on Zoo Quest in 1958, David introduced a young Prince Charles and Princess Anne to a cockatoo captured on his last expedition.
3 of 21David Attenborough in 1959
David at London Airport (now known as Heathrow) before an expedition to the South Pacific.
4 of 21David Attenborough in 1961
David continued to host Zoo Quest until the early 1960s, when he resigned to as a permanent member of staff at the BBC to study a postgraduate degree in social anthropology at London School of Economics.
5 of 21David Attenborough in 1965
But before he could finish his postgraduate degree, David accepted the role of the controller of BBC Two under the agreement that he would continue to occasionally make programmes for the channel.
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6 of 21David Attenborough in 1965
He completely changed the face of the channel and was responsible for commissioning programmes like Monty Python's Flying Circus, Match of the Day and The Money Programme.
7 of 21David Attenborough in 1967
During his tenure, BBC Two became a hub for the arts, science, travel, science, business and natural history.
8 of 21David Attenborough in 1972
David was promoted to the prestigious role of Director of Programme at the BBC in 1968 and was even touted to become Director-General but quit in 1972 to return to making programmes full-time.
9 of 21David Attenborough in 1973
David explaining genetics and evolution on the set of The Life Game.
10 of 21David Attenborough in 1974
Here's David filming The Tribal Eye - a documentary on tribal art, of which he is a keen collector.
11 of 21David Attenborough in 1978
Starting with Life on Earth in 1979, David's Life collection of nine series is considered a benchmark of quality in wildlife film-making and influenced future generations for years to come.
12 of 21David Attenborough in 1980
David at London Zoo with 12-year-old Patrick Flynn, the millionth visitor the zoo's educational tour who won a side copy of his book Life on Earth.
13 of 21David Attenborough in 1982
David with an orang utan at her baby at London Zoo. He's worked closely with the zoo throughout his career and was awarded the ZSL's silver medal - their top honour - by Prince Phillip in 1965.
14 of 21David Attenborough in 1985
11 years after being appointed Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen's 1974 Birthday Honours, Sir David was knighted in 1985. The same year he was awarded an Emmy for writing The Living Planet.
15 of 21David Attenborough in 1986
David attending the Museum of Broadcasting Gala Dinner to celebrate 50 years of BBC television at St. Regis Hotel in New York City.
16 of 21David Attenborough in 1987
David and his brother Richard at the film premiere of Cry Freedom.
17 of 21David Attenborough in 1990
David at his home in Richmond, south west London.
18 of 21David Attenborough in 1994
David at a screening of Antarctica - Life in the Freezer.
19 of 21David Attenborough in 1998
Here's David in the garden of his London home.
20 of 21David Attenborough in 2003
David on at Taronga Park Zoo in Sydney, Australia on a promotional tour of the country in 2003.
21 of 21David Attenborough in 2005
A tribute to Sir David Attenborough at the 20th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
Is David Attenborough married?
David married his first love Jane Elizabeth Ebsworth Oriel in 1950. They were together for 47 and had two children, Susan and Robert, but Jane sadly died in 1997 after suffering a brain haemorrhage while David was filming in New Zealand.
Writing about Jane’s last moment in his memoirs Life on Air, David recalled how a doctor suggested he should hold her hand to see if she would clasp it back. “She did, and gave my hand a squeeze. The focus of my life, the anchor had gone…now I was lost,” he wrote.
When did David Attenborough receive his knighthood?
Queen Elizabeth II gave David a knighthood in 1985.
David's documentaries
His documentaries have undoubtedly fostered several generations worth of animal lovers, conservationists and natural historians, as well as giving the general public some of the best-loved moments of documentary telly.
Who could forget his 'wild' encounter with a family of mountain gorillas in January 1978 where these loveable apes stared on at him apathetically before rolling around on top of him like a play fight at school?
With his pioneering approach to film-making and landmark camera techniques, he has shown us animal interactions no one had even been privy to before, including ta sugar flight's stunning flight from Life on Earth or the moment naughty penguins show their criminal side as they steal stones.
But more than anything it's his down-to-earth good humour that make his shows such a joy to watch, seeing him howl away pretending to be a wolf or say boo to a sloth, both in The Life of Mammals. Even in moments many others might have considered scary he deals with it with fascinated glee, from the time a whale bobbed up next to his boat to his obvious glee, to the time he waded into a terrifying group of 'cannibals' in Papa New Guinea, only to greet them with a friendly, very English 'good afternoon'.
Aside from his television career, David has also written several dozen books as well as campaigning on countless environmental issues, including badger culling and plastic pollution.
Sir David Attenborough joins Instagram to warn 'the world is in trouble'
Sir David Attenborough has signed up to Instagram for the first time to help spread his environmental message.
"I am making this move... because, as we all know, the world is in trouble," he said in his first video message on the social media platform.
"Continents are on fire. Glaciers are melting. Coral reefs are dying... The list goes on and on," he continued.
Within an hour of his first post, he had more than 200,000 followers, and now has over 2.9 million followers (and counting).
"Saving our planet is now a communications challenge," the veteran broadcaster said.
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