John Crosse, the beloved British radio and TV broadcaster known for his memorable voice, has died. He was 83.
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For 26 years, he served as one of the voices introducing programs on Yorkshire TV, bringing a wealth of experience from his adventurous career aboard pirate radio ships, per The Yorkshire Post.
✝️ John CROSSE
— In__Memoriam (@In___Memoriam) February 4, 2025
🧺 Feb. 1941, Ballymena 🇬🇧
🪦 Jan. 2025
đź“‹ Radio DJ, presenter, continuity announcer
He read the news on BBC Radio 4, and then joined Southern Television for a short stint as continuity announcer for the channel.
In the 1970s, he joined Yorkshire Television. pic.twitter.com/xbJrs5f0QS
Unlike most networks, YTV’s announcers were disembodied voices speaking from a dark booth, defined only by the unique cadence of their delivery. Crosse, along with Redvers Kyle and Graham Roberts, became recognizable through their distinctive vocal styles.
Crosse was renowned for his impeccable received pronunciation, a hallmark of clarity and sophistication. As one of the station’s longest-tenured broadcasters, his voice became a defining feature of the channel. He effortlessly led viewers from one program to the next.
News to hand that John Crosse, former senior announcer at Yorkshire Television, has died aged 85.
— Gareth Joy (@lookoutwales2) January 25, 2025
He made a rare in-vision appearance on @itvcalendar upon his retirement in 1998.@UKPRES1 @thetvroom @IanWhiteNews @rogertilling @christinetalbot https://t.co/144auwcSFs
Born in February 1941 in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, he was the son of Major William A.F. Crosse, an officer in the 6th Battalion, Royal Ulster Rifles, stationed there during the war. His mother, Jean Penwill, was from Liverpool and came from a family with a strong heritage in merchant shipping.
After his parents’ divorce, his mother remarried a U.S. naval officer shortly after the war. Despite securing a place at Pangbourne College in Berkshire at 13, John was sent to New York to join her.
John Crosse Credits His Time Spent at Sea as a Youth For His Cheerful Outlook
During his third-class passage from Southampton, he was cared for by the purser and stewards in the first-class bar. He said this early experience of warmth and friendship helped shape the cheerful attitude he kept throughout his life.
At 18, after briefly working at his father’s repatriation camp in Austria—where he learned to ski and trained with Britain’s Olympic team—he returned to the UK and found a passion for the sea.
His sailing skills led to his broadcasting debut when he joined the pirate station Radio London. After a storm delayed supplies, he filled in for an unwell Kenny Everett, thanks to his sea legs and strong voice. He trained as a newsreader and took the stage name John Sedd.
He later worked in sales for RadioVision and as a newsreader, presenter, and producer for an English radio station in Cyprus, where he met and married Mary Bedson in October 1970.
After returning to Britain, he briefly worked as a newsreader on BBC Radio 4 before spending six months as a continuity announcer at Southern Television in Southampton. In October 1972, he joined Yorkshire Television, coinciding with the launch of afternoon programming that expanded the station’s broadcast hours. He remained there until 1998, narrating the beloved long-running children’s series How We Used To Live. He also introduced the station’s shows.
After retiring, he spent several years in Virginia caring for his mother. Eventually, he and his wife Mary returned to Nidderdale. There, they had transformed a former youth hostel into their family home.
He is survived by his wife Mary, his three children—Yolanda, Benjamin, and Halcyon—and eight grandchildren.