How Old Is Sir David Attenborough And Who Was His Wife? - Metro

Sir David Attenborough has been rightfully hailed a ‘national treasure’ with a broadcasting career spanning over six decades, but how old is the much-loved biologist?

The natural historian has recently been back on the BBC with his latest docu-series David Attenborough and The Giant Sea Monster.

Prior to that he brought us the likes of Planet Earth 3, and Dinosaurs: The Final Day, which chsowed a ‘gentler’ side to the famous Tyrannosaurus Rex, while exploring the last days of the dinosaurs before their extinction.

Read all the latest David Attenborough news here.

Sir David has produced over 100 eye-opening documentaries, and each has been just as insightful as the previous, but does he have any children, and was he married?

Here’s everything you need to know.

How old is David Attenborough?

Sir David Attenborough is 97-years-old and was born on Saturday, May 8, 1926.

The beloved presenter was knighted in 1985 and was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael And St George for services to television broadcasting and conservation.

He kickstarted his career bringing the natural world to millions of TV viewers with Zoo Quest in 1954.

Nowadays, he delivers powerful warnings over what is at stake in the fight against climate change.

Sir David’s impact on British culture is enormous, with him being voted as Britain’s greatest living icon in 2006.

He was not only a pioneer of wildlife programmes but was responsible for the creation of BBC Two, and we can also thank him for introducing colour television into the UK.

Who was David Attenborough’s wife?

Sir David Attenborough married his wife Jane Elizabeth Ebsworth Oriel in 1950.

The pair remained together until Jane sadly died in 1997, aged 70, as a result of a brain haemorrhage.

Sir David has addressed his loss publicly on only a few occasions, writing in his 2002 memoir Life On Air: ‘The focus of my life, the anchor had gone… now I was lost.’

He and Jane had two children together: a son and daughter, Robert and Susan.

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And it seems the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, as their son Robert is a senior lecturer in bioanthropology for the School of Archaeology and Anthropology at the Australian National University in Canberra.

While Susan is a former primary school headmistress.

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Not too much is known about the siblings as it seems they have opted for a life away from the spotlight, but they were reported as being in ‘their 50s’ in 2017.

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