Not to be confused with the Irish actor Gabriel Byrne.
Gay Byrne
Byrne in 2007
Born
Gabriel Mary Byrne
(1934-08-05)5 August 1934
Rialto, Dublin, Ireland
Died
4 November 2019(2019-11-04) (aged 85)
Howth, Dublin, Ireland
Resting place
St. Fintan's Cemetery, Sutton, Dublin, Ireland
Other names
Uncle Gay[1]
Gaybo[2]
Uncle Gaybo[3]
Education
Scoil Treasa Naofa Synge Street CBS honorary doctorate in literature from Trinity College Dublin (1988)[3]
Occupation
Broadcaster
Years active
1958–2019
Employer
Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ)
Notable work
The Late Late Show
The Late Late Toy Show
The Gay Byrne Show
Rose of Tralee
People in Need Telethon
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
The Meaning of Life
For One Night Only
Board member of
Chairman of the Road Safety Authority (2006–2014)
Spouse
Kathleen Watkins
(m. 1964)
Children
2
Gabriel Mary Byrne (5 August 1934 – 4 November 2019) was an Irish presenter and host of radio and television. His most notable role was as the first host of The Late Late Show over a 37-year period spanning 1962 until 1999. The Late Late Show is the world's second longest-running chat show.[4] He was affectionately known as "Uncle Gay",[1] "Gaybo"[2] or "Uncle Gaybo".[3][5] His time working in Britain with Granada Television saw him become the first person to introduce the Beatles on-screen, and Byrne was later the first to introduce Boyzone on screen in 1993.[6]
From 1973 until 1998, Byrne presented The Gay Byrne Hour – later The Gay Byrne Show when it expanded to two hours – on RTÉ Radio 1 each weekday morning. After retiring from his long-running radio and television shows, Byrne presented several other programmes, including Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, The Meaning of Life and For One Night Only on RTÉ One and Sunday Serenade/Sunday with Gay Byrne on RTÉ lyric fm. In 2006, he was elected Chairman of Ireland's Road Safety Authority. In his retirement he was described as the "Elder Lemon of Irish broadcasting".[7]
In 2010, The Irish Times said Byrne was "unquestionably the most influential radio and television man in the history of the Irish State".[3] He was approached to run in the 2011 Irish presidential election but declined to run, despite topping early opinion polls.[8][9]
^ abCite error: The named reference masterful_uncle_gay_enthralls_full_house was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abCite error: The named reference walking_on_air was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abcdByrne, Gay (13 February 2010). "The chameleon of Montrose". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 18 November 2010. Retrieved 13 February 2010.
^Crowley, Sinéad (4 November 2019). "Veteran RTÉ broadcaster Gay Byrne dies aged 85". RTÉ.ie. Archived from the original on 4 November 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
^"Dima performs at The Late Late Show". Eurovision Song Contest. 31 May 2008. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
"Paisley on RTE's Late Late Show". BBC News. 24 January 2009. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
"Late Late show getting new face". BBC News. 12 May 2009. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
"Kenny's final viewer figures released". The Irish Times. 2 June 2009. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
^"Gay Byrne's finest moments on The Late Late Show". rte.ie. 4 November 2019. Archived from the original on 5 November 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
^Courtney, Kevin (23 January 2010). "In God, we curry flavour". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 29 November 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2010. There's no special trick to Gay's interview technique – it's his status as the Elder Lemon of Irish broadcasting that elicits your trust. You can't imagine this format working with anyone who isn't already familiar with Gay's paternal persona. If he asked an American to talk about their faith, he might get the answer: "Well, Jay, in my new movie, coming to a cinema near you, my character is very much on a spiritual journey."
^Cite error: The named reference bbc_presidency was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference guardian_presidency was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
and Byrne was later the first to introduce Boyzone on screen in 1993. From 1973 until 1998, Byrne presented The GayByrne Hour – later The GayByrne Show...
The GayByrne Show (previously The GayByrne Hour and also known as The GB Show) was an Irish radio programme, which ran from 1973 until 1998. The programme...
loss of advertising revenue. GayByrne retired from presenting The Late Late Show in 1999. Kenny was announced as Byrne's replacement on 24 May 1999. He...
actor GayByrne (1934–2019), Irish broadcaster George Byrne (1892–1973), English cricketer Gerry Byrne (disambiguation), several people Greg Byrne (athletic_director)...
Best Comedy Performance posthumously. Morgan said in an interview with GayByrne on The Late Late Show in 1996 that he was writing a screenplay titled...
broadcaster, harpist, actress, singer and author. She is the widow of GayByrne. She played Grace Gifford in the 1966 docudrama Insurrection. She hosted...
Catholic, but became an atheist at the age of 17. In an interview with GayByrne on RTÉ, he said that he respected those who had "the gift of faith". Wogan's...
presented by Ryan Tubridy, the show has previously been presented by GayByrne and Pat Kenny during their tenures at the helm. Dustin the Turkey, a high-profile...
Ruth Smith Former Brendan Balfe Gerald Barry Charlie Bird Vincent Browne GayByrne Derek Davis Richard Downes Eamon Dunphy Séamus Ennis Dave Fanning Brian...
radio and television presenters, including Larry Gogan, Jimmy Greeley, GayByrne, Ronan Collins, Pat Kenny and Mike Murphy. Marty Whelan has provided the...
a passion for cats and restaurants, and an abhorrence of broadcaster GayByrne. In 1994, Leonard gave a review of Katie Roche' by Irish playwright Teresa...
four Irishmen in the world", according to Ireland's Late Late Show host GayByrne in a retrospective interview in 1984. Billboard Magazine reported that...
garrulous", although she actually grew to 6'1", said in an interview with GayByrne of The Late Late Show that, growing up in Dalkey, she never felt herself...
presented the Rose of Tralee twice in 1995 and 1996, the first of these when GayByrne was taken ill at short notice. He memorably thanked the providers of the...
GayByrne as presenter of The Late Late Show as early as 2003, when he was about to take over as presenter of the Rose of Tralee, another of Byrne's former...
near-iconic status in Ireland as it was used as the theme music for The GayByrne Show, a long-running and immensely popular morning radio show on RTÉ Radio...
recognize the gay community. Byrne helped to make Chicago more welcoming to the gay community. She ended the police department's practice of raiding gay bars,...
popular television show The Late Late Show was coming to an end, when host GayByrne read this headline from the next day's Sunday Tribune newspaper: "Girl...