David Dickinson
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David Dickinson (born David Gulessarian), 16 August 1941 in Stockport, Cheshire is an English antiques expert and television presenter of Armenian ancestry.
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[edit] Biography
Dickinson was born in Macclesfield to an unmarried mother, Eugenie Gulessarian. Eugenie was a member of Armenian textile trading family, whose father had moved from Istanbul to Manchester, England in 1904. Eugenie is also noted as being a gypsy who collected many antiques which sparked David's love for the industry. Dickinson had corresponded with his biological mother in her later life in Jersey, but they never met. Dickinson's biological father is unknown.
David was adopted by the Dickinsons, a local couple. Mr. Dickinson died when David was 12, and as his adoptive mother worked hard to keep the family together, David was in part brought up by his French adoptive grandmother. Dickinson began an apprenticeship at an aircraft factory when he was 14, but quickly left to work in the cloth trade in central Manchester. At 19 Dickinson served four years in prison, the majority spent at Strangeways in Manchester, for fraud.[1]
He began working as an antiques dealer 30 years ago, when he worked full time as agent to his wife, a cabaret singer. While she was working, Dickinson spent time visiting antique shops and learning from the trade – he believed this was due to his approach, in "chatting up and generally charming" the dealers. Eventually he opened his own shop with old school friend Chris Haworth in Disley. The pair sold the first shop in 1980, and ran another in Wilmslow for three years – but it was not a success, and they dissolved the partnership.
Dickinson set up again in Manchester with the assistance of an old customer as silent partner, and the business ran until 1991 when, in light of forthcoming recession, the shop was closed. Dickinson decided to concentrate on selling antiques at prestigious fairs, taking stands at Olympia and other major antiques fairs three or four times a year, dealing in 18th and 19th century furniture and works of art.
[edit] TV career
In 1998, a chance meeting with a TV producer at a barbecue led to Dickinson's TV appearance, a two-part documentary for the BBC made about him and his preparation for a show at Olympia. His dark complexion (often implied to be a fake tan, but he claims that it's due to his Armenian ancestry) and numerous catchphrases quickly caught the viewers attention. He will often ask female contestants "Do you mind if I call you girls?", describe particularly excellent items as "real bobby-dazzlers" (and conversely, poor items as "a load of tat") and refer to anything he considers a bargain as being "Cheap as chips!"
Dickinson came to public attention as an antiques expert on This Morning (owing in part to his facial resemblance to the fictional antiques dealer Lovejoy) as portrayed on television by Ian McShane), but his fame came from presenting the game show Bargain Hunt on the BBC, which earned a cult status amongst students. A weekly evening slot, added later, brought him to the attention of a wider public.
After the evening version of Bargain Hunt was cancelled, and having been replaced by Tim Wonnacott on the daytime slot, he went on to present a new show, Dealing With Dickinson, which first aired on BBC1 on 17 July 2005 although it too was cancelled after only one season.
Dickinson now has a new series on the ITV Network, called Dickinson's Real Deal which broadcasts on weekdays at 3 pm. The programme asks people to come in and either sell their items to a dealer or take a gamble and go to auction.
[edit] Guest Appearances
In 2002 David Dickinson appeared as a guest on Shooting Stars joining Team B led by Ulrika Johnson and Johnny Vegas.
In 2003 he made a cameo in teen movie Eurotrip.
In 2004 he was one of several celebrities to have their portraits painted in the BBC 1 television series Star Portraits with Rolf Harris [1], and also in 2004, he appeared in the first season of Strictly Come Dancing.
In 2005 Dickinson appeared on the ITV reality show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, where he first announced that he had used heroin in his younger years. He also presented information slots for viewers on how to bid on satellite shopping channel Bid TV.
Dickinson explored his family background in an episode of the third series of the BBC genealogical documentary series Who Do You Think You Are?[2] broadcast in the UK on 4 October, 2006. He was able to trace relatives in both the UK and Istanbul.
On one radio episode of Dead Ringers, The Doctor (voiced by Jon Culshaw) phoned up Dickinson to ask him how much he could get for a Magnetic Core Extractor that was believed to be owned by the Doctor when he was Jon Pertwee. Dickinson described it as "a bit of a bobby dazzler".
[edit] Personal life
Dickinson met his wife-to-be in a nightclub in the 1960s – the international cabaret artist Lorne Lesley, and they've now been married for over 30 years. As a wedding gift Lorne gave David an antique regency mourning ring, set with a rose cut diamond. Lorne is of African, Welsh and Scottish ancestry; she hails from Tiger Bay, Cardiff. The couple live in the village of Bollington, Cheshire and have two grown-up children, and also grandchildren.
Dickinson's nickname is "The Duke", a play on the fact that he is a big John Wayne ("The Duke") fan and a reference to his smart but slightly eccentric dress sense. David has used the same tailor for forty years, Chris Nicolaou, who appeared as a guest for David's This Is Your Life programme. Until May 2008, he drove a bright blue Bentley Continental GT. He currently has two vehicles, the first being an eco-friendly electric Smart EV and the second being a Reliant Regal van; This van being one of the famous yellow Trotters Independent Traders vans from the sitcom Only Fools and Horses, which Dickinson bought in 2007 for over £44,000.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ David Dickinson Bargain Hunt - Books by David Dickinson
- ^ "BBC ONE Autumn 2006", BBC, 2006-07-18.
