Brian Redhead; Host of BBC’s ‘Today’ Radio Show

Brian Redhead, 64, host of England’s “Today” radio show for 18 years. One of the British Broadcasting Corp.’s best-known radio announcers, Redhead was born in Newcastle, educated at Cambridge, and worked for the Manchester Guardian and the Manchester Evening News. Fired by the papers in 1975, he had taken a vacation to consider his options when he was invited to join the long-running “Today.” He agreed to take the job for three months. But he stayed on, calling the position “the best journalistic job in the country” and proudly telling everyone, “Each morning, we drop a word in the ear of the nation.” Redhead also worked on BBC television, was editorial director of the film and television production company Worldwide Pictures, and was president of England’s Council for National Parks. On Sunday in Macclesfield, England, of kidney failure.