Katie Boyle

Katie Boyle
Born	Caterina Irene Elena Maria Imperiali di Francavilla (1926-05-29) 29 May 1926 Florence, Italy
Nationality	British
Occupation	Actress, presenter, writer
Known for	What's My Line?, Eurovision Song Contest

Katie Boyle, Lady Saunders (born Caterina Irene Elena Maria Imperiali di Francavilla on 29 May 1926) is an Italian-born British actress, television personality, and game-show panelist, well known for appearing on TV panel games such as What's My Line? and for presenting the Eurovision Song Contest in the 1960s and 1970s. She was also a former agony aunt, answering problems that had been posted to the TV Times by readers.

Early life and career

She was born in Florence, Italy, the daughter of an Italian marquis (the Marchese Demetrio Imperiali di Francavilla), and his wife, Dorothy Kate Ramsden. She came to Great Britain in 1946 and started her modelling career, which included work for such publications as Vogue. She also appeared in several 1950s films, the first being Old Mother Riley, Headmistress, (1950) in which she was billed as Catherine Carleton, followed by I'll Never Forget You (uncredited, 1951), Not Wanted on Voyage (1957), The Truth About Women (also 1957), Intent to Kill (1958) with Richard Todd, and The Diary of Major Thompson (1955), with Jack Buchanan, filmed in France by Preston Sturges.

Boyle was an on-screen continuity announcer for the BBC in the 1950s. A decade later she became a television personality regularly appearing on panel games and programmes such as What's My Line? and Juke Box Jury. In 1968 she appeared, alongside comedian Lance Percival, in the fledgling Thames Television's panel quiz game of medical knowledge Lance That Boyle. The show was cancelled after only three episodes. She was the presenter for the 1960, 1963, 1968 and 1974 Eurovision Song Contests, all hosted in the UK. According to author and historian John Kennedy O'Connor's The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History, Boyle hosted the 1974 contest minus her underwear, which was cut off from under her satin dress moments before the broadcast began. She also hosted the UK qualifying heat, A Song for Europe, in 1961. In the 1960s, she appeared in a long-running series of television advertisements for Camay soap.

In 1982 she played herself in the BBC radio play The Competition, which told the story of a fictitious international song contest being staged in Bridlington. Boyle was guest of honour at the Eurovision fan club conventions staged in 1988 and 1992. She appeared at the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest held in Birmingham as a special guest of the BBC. Her other work has included theatre, television (What's Up Dog?) and radio (Katie and Friends). In 2004, Boyle was a guest on a special Eurovision-themed celebrity version of The Weakest Link on BBC1, hosted by Anne Robinson. Boyle became the first, and to date the only, contestant ever to vote herself off the programme.

Private life

In 1947 she married Richard Bentinck Boyle, 9th Earl of Shannon; the marriage was dissolved in 1955 but she maintained his surname (Boyle). The same year she married Greville Baylis, a racehorse owner, who died in 1976. In 1979 she married theatre impresario Sir Peter Saunders, who died in 2002. According to Queen Elizabeth II: A Woman Who Is Not Amused by Nicholas Davies, Boyle had a long-standing relationship with Prince Philip in the 1950s. Boyle told Gyles Brandreth: "It's ludicrous, pure fabrication. When it appears in print, people believe it. You can't take legal action because it fans the flames, so you just have to accept people telling complete lies about you."

Selected filmography

• Not Wanted on Voyage (1957)
• First Love (1959)

See also

• List of Eurovision Song Contest presenters

Bibliography

She has also written three books:

• Dear Katie - tips from her days as agony aunt for TV Times, 1975
• What This Katie Did - autobiography, 1980
• Battersea Tales - stories of rescues from the Battersea Dogs Home, 1997

Preceded by Jacqueline Joubert	Eurovision Song Contest presenter 1960	Succeeded by Jacqueline Joubert
Preceded by Mireille Delannoy	Eurovision Song Contest presenter 1963	Succeeded by Lotte Wæver
Preceded by Erika Vaal	Eurovision Song Contest presenter 1968	Succeeded by Laurita Valenzuela
Preceded by Helga Guitton	Eurovision Song Contest presenter 1974	Succeeded by Karin Falck