Sir David Frost, a satirist turned interviewer whose newsmaking interviews with Richard Nixon made international headlines, has died of a heart attack at age 74.
According to the BBC, Frost suffered from the apparent heart attack following a speech on the cruise ship Queen Elizabeth.
Frost, as host of “This Was The Week That Was,” served as something of a predecessor to comedians like Jon Stewart, so far as he was mocking the news. “The Frost Programme” for ITV and “The David Frost Show” for Westinghouse Broadcasting in the U.S. paved the way for more serious interviews. Frost hosted an interview program for Al Jazeera English until his death.
It was Frost’s series of interviews with Richard Nixon in 1977 that made him internationally known for his interview skills. The interviews garnered record ratings in the U.S. and abroad, and had Nixon acknowledging some of the things he did as President that sparked his resignation. The interviews sparked a play and later a film, “Frost/Nixon.”
More from his obituaries in the BBC and Al Jazeera.