BBC tried to take George Orwell off air because of ‘unattractive’ voice
The BBC tried to take the author George Orwell off air because his voice was “unattractive”, according to archive documents released by the corporation.
London Telegraph >> Originally Published 04 June 2009
Orwell, whose real name was Eric Arthur Blair, was employed by the BBC to work in its Eastern Service during the Second World War to supervise cultural broadcasts to India countering Nazi German propaganda.However during one transmission, a senior executive was struck by the “unsuitability” and “unattractiveness” of Orwell’s voice.
J. B. Clark, controller of overseas services, wrote in a memo on January 19, 1943, that the author should be kept away from the microphone.
“I found the talk itself interesting, and I am not critical of its content, but I was struck by the basic unsuitability of Orwell’s voice.”
“I realise, of course, that his name is of some value in quite important Indian circles, but his voice struck me as both unattractive and really unsuited to the microphone to such an extent that (a) it would not attract any listeners who were outside the circle of Orwell’s admirers, and (b) would make the talks themselves vulnerable at the hands of people who would have reason to see Orwell denied the microphone, or of those who felt critical of the BBC for being so ignorant of the essential needs of the microphone and of the audience as to put on so wholly unsuitable a voice.”