RIP Murray Walker

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Everso Biggyballies
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#16

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

Bottom post of the previous page:

Antonov wrote: 3 years ago
The circumstances of his death have not been revealed, which is perfectly understandable. I hope his passing was gentle.
Clearly the circumstances are that he was 97 years old and had lived much longer than the average male, much of his life lived as a National treasure and F1 legend, who had a huge following, certainly more friends than haters and he thoroughly enjoyed his life.... the fact that he was in recent years diagnosed with (I think prostate) cancer may have had an effect but AFAIK he had been successfully treated for that.

The cause of his death is immaterial per se.... he died of old age and it seems peacefully. He had a great innings.

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#17

Post by jimclark »

I learned some years back not to mourn our losses, rather, to celebrate what we had.

"I'm ready to stop my start watch."

https://www.eurosport.com/formula-1/fun ... tory.shtml


Thank you Murray. :bye:
Those were the days my friends, we thought they'd never end.....

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#18

Post by Arthur-vL »

So sad news, but we knew it was coming one day. I enjoyed his commentary, especially with playing F1 1995 for the Playstation :mrgreen: ! Wasn`t one of the first games with Murray as a commentator? Here a short clip:



And of course later when I was watching the BBC broadcasts, legendary!
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#19

Post by Michael Ferner »

Murray was one of a kind... the Muddly Talker, a moniker he was said to have liked. I think we all probably envied him for the public part of his life - 'nough said. :rip:
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#20

Post by SBan83 »

In recent years, he was still relatively active in the sport, with the occasional documentary and appearance. And I'd think wow, he's still around...that's great. And now, he's not. Same with Sir Stirling Moss. Both are people I know of only through the media but it's incredible how endearing they get to be that you actually feel bad they're no longer around.
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#21

Post by DaleJuniorFan »

My first real experience with F1 was downloading old 70s-80s BBC highlights from the original TBK around 2005. As an American, I would've never had the privilege of growing up with Murray anyway, but his brilliant commentary really drew me in to the action, and my respect for him only grew as I became a bigger fan of the sport.

RIP to a true legend.
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#22

Post by erwin greven »

I learned of his commentary through Youtube. I never watched the BBC coverage of F1 in the 80's till today. We had coverage by the NOS, RTL+, Canal+, RTL4/5/7 and now Ziggo.
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#23

Post by JBT »

So sad to hear the news, he was a big part of motor racing on TV when I was growing up, to the point where it felt strange if he wasn't doing the commentary for anything with wheels and an engine when he was with the BBC. I wrote to him for a school project when it was nine ('87) and he sent back a very nice hand written reply and a signed promo card for an F3 team.

RIP Murray, you certainly didn't waste any of your years on this earth.
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#24

Post by theracer120 »

I don't think motorsport will ever have anyone quite like Murray again. RIP.
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#25

Post by erwin greven »

theracer120 wrote: 3 years ago I don't think motorsport will ever have anyone quite like Murray again. RIP.
He was a very long time a commentator, but how many others do you know?
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#26

Post by White six »

erwin greven wrote: 3 years ago
theracer120 wrote: 3 years ago I don't think motorsport will ever have anyone quite like Murray again. RIP.
He was a very long time a commentator, but how many others do you know?
The german one who would stay silent for entire laps at a time ;)
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#27

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

I think most of us were aware that Murray for much of his working life worked in Advertising at a senior level.... what I was not aware of was that it was Murray who came up with one of the more iconic product slogans, one that is still in evidence today many years after he first came up with it.

There would not be many, certainly those in my age group, that didnt enjoy a Mars bar..... it was Murray who came up with "A Mars a day helps you work rest and play". Another of his that I recall well was for Trill, a food/seed product for budgies....‘Trill makes budgies bounce with health’. Somewhat ironic that the guy that Murray was for so long associated with, James Hunt, was well known for his love of budgies, and indeed in his latter years he was well known for his budgie breeding.

Motor Sport carried an obituary to the great man: also Simon Arran wrote of a memory of his regarding Murray.

Image
He never won a grand prix, nor even took part in a major race, but Murray Walker – who has passed away, aged 97 – was an international motor sport treasure, a man as widely recognised and respected as most of the drivers whose exploits he reported. When he and Nigel Mansell teamed up to open a new hospitality centre at Thruxton during the summer of 2018, both were swamped by autograph hunters… but the queue for Murray was slightly the longer.

Born in Hall Green, Birmingham, he was the son of motorcycle racer Graham Walker – winner of the 1931 Isle of Man Lightweight TT – and competed for a while on two wheels, albeit at grass-roots level. After attaining the rank of tank captain during the Second World War, he left the army to work in advertising and is credited with creating a number of slogans that became part of Britain’s everyday lexicon during the 1960s and 1970s.

He made his debut behind the microphone at Shelsley Walsh in 1948 and was assigned to commentate on the British Grand Prix from the Stowe box at Silverstone in 1949, but advertising remained his main occupation. He obtained his first regular commentary slot by providing radio coverage of the IoM TT alongside his father during the 1950s, then assumed the lead role after Graham’s death in 1962.

He began to become more widely known over the following two decades, covering motocross and rallycross for the Saturday afternoon sports programmes on national television. F1 was rarely covered at that time, but the BBC began regular highlights programmes from 1978 and recruited Walker as its front man – a role he maintained when full live race coverage commenced during the early 1980s. As F1 extended its media footprint, so Walker’s fame grew – his popularity augmented by his enthusiastic delivery and occasional habit of saying things at inopportune moments. In his own words, “I don’t make mistakes. I make prophecies that immediately turn out to be wrong.”

Walker forged strong bonds with a number of co-commentators, notably James Hunt (even though he once almost thumped him while they wrestled over a single microphone) and Martin Brundle, and continued working in F1 – for both ITV and the BBC – until the 2001 United States GP at Indianapolis.

Even after stepping down, however, he remained a frequent paddock fixture, fulfilling ambassadorial roles and undertaking occasional TV and radio commitments – something he continued until he was well into his 90s.

Away from the microphone, he was an old-school enthusiast – a man who sounded as passionate as he did because his love for the sport was absolute. He was also charming, engaging company, and generous with his time to all those who sought a signature or else, simply, a quick chat.

There will never be another quite like him.



Simon Arron remembers Murray Walker
Silverstone was cloaked in its traditional autumn grey when the message came through to the press room: “The BBC’s lap charter hasn’t turned up and Murray Walker will need some help. Why don’t you put yourself forward?”

It was 1982, long before live timing’s invention, and the Beeb was making one of its occasional dips into the British F3 Championship. I was directed towards the Outside Broadcast trucks, parked close to Woodcote, and poked my head through a gap to see what the inner sanctum contained: there were assorted cables lying around and Murray Walker stood in the middle, apparently unoccupied. I wandered up to introduce myself, wondering how a 21-year-old cub reporter might be received by a household name, and his welcome could not have been warmer. The lap-charting crisis had already been averted, but he thanked me for volunteering and wished me well as I headed back towards the paddock.

We would not meet again until the 1984 Macau GP, when we were assigned to the same table during an official pre-race dinner. Before it began, Murray stood up and said, “Let me introduce everybody…” I cringed. There was surely no chance he’d remember our brief encounter two years beforehand, but when he reached my section of the table it transpired that he seemed to know more about me than I did. As our paths crossed more frequently over the years, I discovered that his research was never less than meticulous – irrespective of circumstance. He loved his job, certainly, but he also worked extremely hard at it.

I did eventually have the pleasure of collaborating with him for the BBC, compiling his lap chart during a Brands Hatch Formula Ford Festival in the mid 1980s… and keeping my head down as his arms flailed around, every bit as expressive as his voice.

The opportunity to watch a master in his realm, and at such close quarters, was a privilege not easily forgotten.
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/arti ... -1923-2021

Lewis Hamilton mentioned Murray at the pre season tests and he made a comment I totally agree with... (yes I know, me agreeing with Lewis :haha: )
“Even without watching the TV – if you’re out of the room and you hear him excited you actually want to run back in and see what’s happening."

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#28

Post by manny »

erwin greven wrote: 3 years ago
XcraigX wrote: 3 years ago Sad day. I think it's hard to find someone that didn't like Murray. Even when he got it wrong (seems like it was often), it was still very entertaining.
We have a commentator, Olav Mol, who makes mistakes too. The only difference here is that when Murray makes a mistake, we all laugh about it and when Olav makes a mistake he should be replaced, according to some.
Same here in Germany.
Heiko Waßer is the commentator for F1 here & he also makes a lot mistakes and nobody every finds it funny. It is something very special Murray had, that people like it rather then beeing upset about it.

Anyway, sad sad news. And there never ever will be someone like Murray Walker again.

I heard Murry the 1st time from the Playstation game, and was amazed about how funny he sounds. I watched F1 even before this particular PSX game, but knowing him as the Voice of F1 over in the UK made F1 somehow more special. Then the Internet years, the F1 Forums years, seeing Clips from old races and hearing him, yeah was somehow magic. And that all thanks to a Video Game.

R.I.P. Murray :rip:
WIP.
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#29

Post by White six »

manny wrote: 3 years ago
erwin greven wrote: 3 years ago
XcraigX wrote: 3 years ago Sad day. I think it's hard to find someone that didn't like Murray. Even when he got it wrong (seems like it was often), it was still very entertaining.
We have a commentator, Olav Mol, who makes mistakes too. The only difference here is that when Murray makes a mistake, we all laugh about it and when Olav makes a mistake he should be replaced, according to some.
Same here in Germany.
Heiko Waßer is the commentator for F1 here & he also makes a lot mistakes and nobody every finds it funny. It is something very special Murray had, that people like it rather then beeing upset about it.

Anyway, sad sad news. And there never ever will be someone like Murray Walker again.

I heard Murry the 1st time from the Playstation game, and was amazed about how funny he sounds. I watched F1 even before this particular PSX game, but knowing him as the Voice of F1 over in the UK made F1 somehow more special. Then the Internet years, the F1 Forums years, seeing Clips from old races and hearing him, yeah was somehow magic. And that all thanks to a Video Game.

R.I.P. Murray :rip:
Who's the german guy from the 70's and 80's? Long silences. Niki Lauda joined him in Austria after he left Brabham and all you could hear was Lauda rabbiting on :haha:
The board equivalent of the Jody scheckter chicane. Fast but pointless
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#30

Post by erwin greven »

Heinz Prueller
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#31

Post by White six »

erwin greven wrote: 3 years ago Heinz Prueller
I settle for Heinz when there's no Murray option on YouTube.

I like the way he finishes sentences and then nods off for 30 seconds

Certainly makes more sense than the French or Italians
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