Sir David Frost, the man who faced down Nixon, dies aged 74
Veteran journalist and broadcaster, who died of a suspected heart attack while on a cruise ship, interviewed leaders spanning half a century
David Frost
1939-2013
Veteran British journalist and broadcaster David Frost, who won fame around the world for his TV interviews with former US President Richard Nixon, has died, his family told the BBC. He was 74.
Known both for an amiable personality and incisive interviews with leading public figures, Frost's career in television news and entertainment spanned almost half a century. He was the only person to have interviewed all six British prime ministers serving between 1964 and 2007 and the seven US presidents in office between 1969 and 2008. Outside world affairs, his roster ranged from Orson Welles to Muhammad Ali to Clint Eastwood.
Prime Minister David Cameron praised Frost for being an "extraordinary man with charm, wit, talent, intelligence and warmth in equal measure."
"He could be - and certainly was with me - both a friend and a fearsome interviewer," he added.
The BBC said it received a statement from Frost's family saying it was devastated and asking "for privacy at this difficult time."
Frost began television hosting while still a student at Cambridge University. He went on to host the BBC's satirical news show in the early 1960s, and, later, a sketch show called and a long-running BBC Sunday show, . His signature, "Hello, good evening and welcome" was often mimicked.
While popular in Britain and beginning to launch a career on US television, Frost did not become internationally known until 1977, when he secured a series of television interviews with Nixon.
The dramatic face-to-face encounter was make-or-break both for him and for the ex-president, who was trying to salvage his reputation after resigning from the White House in disgrace following the Watergate scandal three years earlier. At the time, it was the most widely watched news interview in the history of TV.
The interviewer and his subject sparred through the first part of the interview, but Frost later said he realised he didn't have what he wanted as it wound down.
Nixon had acknowledged mistakes, but Frost pressed him on whether that was enough. Americans, he said, wanted to hear him own up to wrongdoing and acknowledge abuse of power - and "unless you say it, you're going to be haunted for the rest of your life".
"That was totally off-the-cuff," Frost later said. "That was totally ad-lib. In fact, I threw my clipboard down just to indicate that it was not prepared in any way ... I just knew at that moment that Richard Nixon was more vulnerable than he'd ever be in his life. And I knew I had to get it right."
After more pressing, Nixon relented. "I let the American people down and I have to carry that burden with me for the rest of my life," he said.
The dramatic face-off went on to spawn a hit play. And in 2008, a new generation was introduced to Frost's work with the Oscar-nominated movie , starring Michael Sheen as Frost and Frank Langella as Nixon.
Frost was born on April 7, 1939, the son of a Methodist preacher.
Besides television hosting, he set up his own company, which gave birth to many more popular British programmes.
ran on the BBC for 12 years until 2005.
