Mark Speight Found Dead. - Page 2 - Britmovie

Gazza · 14-04-2008, 07:00 AM

An addiction is an addiction whether it's fags, booze or cocaine - the difference is, the likes of Reed, O'Toole and Burton were seen as roisterers while folk who take drugs are seen as sad/tragic/stupid/lacking.

No good whatsoever will come of this sorry tale - people will continue to take drugs and drink too much and there will be no radical, grown-up look at drugs policy.

julian_craster · 14-04-2008, 08:40 AM

Obituary: Mark Speight
Daily Telegraph
14/04/2008

Mark Speight, who was found dead yesterday aged 42, was one of the most popular presenters on CBBC, the BBC's digital channel for children, and was best known as the face of its long-running art programme, SMart.

Launched in 1994, the show essentially built on the format devised for an earlier generation of children by the artist Tony Hart, and featured Speight and his co-presenter conducting a gallery tour of pictures sent in by children.
He also demonstrated how to draw cartoons and make collages in a tradition dating back to the early Blue Peter days of mutilated bottles of washing-up liquid and sticky-backed plastic.

One of his frequent items showed him making a small picture (often from coloured scraps of paper) and then a larger version on the floor, using carpet tiles or larger household items. Speight would switch between the two when a buzzer sounded, gurning the while, and swapping hats to indicate the picture he was working on.

Speight left the show abruptly at the end of February, having announced that he was unable to continue following the drug-related death of his fiancée Natasha Collins, with whom he had appeared in another BBC children's programme, See It Saw It, in 1999.

Mark Speight had first achieved television fame the year before as the rubber-faced presenter of ITV's Saturday morning programme Scratchy & Co, which was nominated for a Bafta for best children's entertainment show. He went on to star in On Your Marks for the BBC and Name That Toon for Granada, which earned him a nomination as best presenter for two consecutive years.
In The Toon Room Speight again drew on his artistic expertise to teach children how to draw cartoons. In See It Saw It, Speight played a king who rules over the kingdom of Much Jollity-On-The-Mirth. The character was unable to make a decision and relied on the assistance of his jesters, See and Saw, one of whom was played by the actress Natasha Collins. Speight and Collins began dating, became engaged and later shared a flat in north London. She died after being badly burnt in the bath there on January 3.

Mark Warwick Fordham Speight was born on August 6 1965 at Trowbridge, Wiltshire. His father was a property consultant and his mother an art teacher. After a year at Tettenhall College, a public school near Wolverhampton, he was moved aged 12 to the nearby Regis comprehensive (now the King's C of E) school, where he was bullied daily for two years. Although he fared badly at school, and left at 16, he went on to obtain a degree in Commercial and Graphic Art.

His ambition had been to become a cartoonist, but he broke into television after hearing about auditions for the SMart programme while working on the set of another production. Working with various co-presenters, Speight became the face of the show from its launch in 1994.

In the 1990s, as well as starring in ITV's Saturday morning children's show Scratchy & Co, he appeared in a range of other programmes, hosting the game show Beat The Cyborgs (CITV), SMarteenies (on CBeebies) and, for the Discovery Kids channel, History Busters, a 13-part series of short films which won a Royal Television Society award in 2003. He was always a lively and engaging presence on screen.

He worked occasionally with Rolf Harris and in 2005 took part in Rolf On Art - The Big Events, a live relay on BBC1 in which he helped to create a giant version of John Constable's painting The Haywain in Trafalgar Square. He presented a follow-up programme in which artists from all over Britain created their version of Holbein's Henry VIII. Subsequently he was involved in recreating Leonardo's Mona Lisa on live television in the grounds of Edinburgh Castle.

A popular performer in pantomime, Speight starred as Buttons in Cinderella at Rickmansworth last Christmas.
Speight toured regularly with art workshops he ran for children called Speight Of The Art, and was involved in charity work, notably as president of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign.

Mark Speight had been reported missing on April 8 after failing to attend a meeting; his body was found at Paddington station, west London, yesterday.

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14-04-2008, 07:00 AM	#16
Gazza is looking forward to Tuesday Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: London Posts: 248 Country: iTrader: (1)	An addiction is an addiction whether it's fags, booze or cocaine - the difference is, the likes of Reed, O'Toole and Burton were seen as roisterers while folk who take drugs are seen as sad/tragic/stupid/lacking. No good whatsoever will come of this sorry tale - people will continue to take drugs and drink too much and there will be no radical, grown-up look at drugs policy.

14-04-2008, 08:40 AM	#17
julian_craster has no status. Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Isle of Foula, UK Posts: 1,537 Country: iTrader: (0)	Obituary: Mark Speight Daily Telegraph 14/04/2008 Mark Speight, who was found dead yesterday aged 42, was one of the most popular presenters on CBBC, the BBC's digital channel for children, and was best known as the face of its long-running art programme, SMart. Launched in 1994, the show essentially built on the format devised for an earlier generation of children by the artist Tony Hart, and featured Speight and his co-presenter conducting a gallery tour of pictures sent in by children. He also demonstrated how to draw cartoons and make collages in a tradition dating back to the early Blue Peter days of mutilated bottles of washing-up liquid and sticky-backed plastic. One of his frequent items showed him making a small picture (often from coloured scraps of paper) and then a larger version on the floor, using carpet tiles or larger household items. Speight would switch between the two when a buzzer sounded, gurning the while, and swapping hats to indicate the picture he was working on. Speight left the show abruptly at the end of February, having announced that he was unable to continue following the drug-related death of his fiancée Natasha Collins, with whom he had appeared in another BBC children's programme, See It Saw It, in 1999. Mark Speight had first achieved television fame the year before as the rubber-faced presenter of ITV's Saturday morning programme Scratchy & Co, which was nominated for a Bafta for best children's entertainment show. He went on to star in On Your Marks for the BBC and Name That Toon for Granada, which earned him a nomination as best presenter for two consecutive years. In The Toon Room Speight again drew on his artistic expertise to teach children how to draw cartoons. In See It Saw It, Speight played a king who rules over the kingdom of Much Jollity-On-The-Mirth. The character was unable to make a decision and relied on the assistance of his jesters, See and Saw, one of whom was played by the actress Natasha Collins. Speight and Collins began dating, became engaged and later shared a flat in north London. She died after being badly burnt in the bath there on January 3. Mark Warwick Fordham Speight was born on August 6 1965 at Trowbridge, Wiltshire. His father was a property consultant and his mother an art teacher. After a year at Tettenhall College, a public school near Wolverhampton, he was moved aged 12 to the nearby Regis comprehensive (now the King's C of E) school, where he was bullied daily for two years. Although he fared badly at school, and left at 16, he went on to obtain a degree in Commercial and Graphic Art. His ambition had been to become a cartoonist, but he broke into television after hearing about auditions for the SMart programme while working on the set of another production. Working with various co-presenters, Speight became the face of the show from its launch in 1994. In the 1990s, as well as starring in ITV's Saturday morning children's show Scratchy & Co, he appeared in a range of other programmes, hosting the game show Beat The Cyborgs (CITV), SMarteenies (on CBeebies) and, for the Discovery Kids channel, History Busters, a 13-part series of short films which won a Royal Television Society award in 2003. He was always a lively and engaging presence on screen. He worked occasionally with Rolf Harris and in 2005 took part in Rolf On Art - The Big Events, a live relay on BBC1 in which he helped to create a giant version of John Constable's painting The Haywain in Trafalgar Square. He presented a follow-up programme in which artists from all over Britain created their version of Holbein's Henry VIII. Subsequently he was involved in recreating Leonardo's Mona Lisa on live television in the grounds of Edinburgh Castle. A popular performer in pantomime, Speight starred as Buttons in Cinderella at Rickmansworth last Christmas. Speight toured regularly with art workshops he ran for children called Speight Of The Art, and was involved in charity work, notably as president of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign. Mark Speight had been reported missing on April 8 after failing to attend a meeting; his body was found at Paddington station, west London, yesterday.