The man who brought wild nature into every home and taught millions of people the value of environmental protection, Sir , celebrates a century of life this Friday 7/5.
With a career spanning seven decades, his iconic voice remains the most powerful weapon in the battle to save it, proving that passion knows no age.
After more than 70 years of producing, Attenborough’s recognizable voice is synonymous with natural history.
It remains at the forefront of environmental protection efforts and has produced some of the most influential work in recent years.
With fans including the British royal family, Barack Obama and pop star Billie Eilish, Attenborough’s charisma, humor and warmth, alongside his depth of knowledge and talent for storytelling, have made him a superstar.
“Your ability to communicate the beauty and vulnerability of our natural environment remains unparalleled,” was how the late Queen Elizabeth summed up his achievements in 2019.
“Lonely George” and the fragile environment
Attenborough’s documentaries have conveyed the wonder and tragedies of the natural world to viewers around the world.
Standout scenes include his encounter with two playful young mountain gorillas, who climbed on top of him during the 1979 historical sequence Life on Earth.
He also made audiences marvel at the teamwork of a pod of killer whales chasing a seal by creating waves to break the ice, while his 2012 telling of the story of ‘Lonely George’, the last surviving Pinta Island turtle, moved everyone to tears.
The “national treasure”
“He’s about 80 years old and his joints are a little creaky, as are mine,” Attenborough, then 86, had said. George’s death, two weeks after the taping, marked the extinction of his species. “It focused the world’s attention on the fragility of our environment,” he said at the time.
While he tops numerous national popularity polls, having been named the country’s most admired man and Britain’s greatest living cultural icon, friends say he resents being labeled a “national treasure”.
“What he feels is that he is a public servant. He feels he had a unique opportunity to be the voice of nature, to tell everyone about the wonders of the natural world,” Mike Gandon, a television producer who has worked with Attenborough many times, told Reuters.
