Kent Walton

Background

Despite a transatlantic accent which led many to believe he was Canadian, he was born in Cairo, Egypt, the son of the finance minister in the colonial government. He grew up at Haslemere in Surrey and went to Charterhouse School.

Education

He attended the Embassy School of Acting in London and appeared in representative

Career

On the outbreak of war in 1939, he joined the Royal Air Force, serving in Bomber Command as a radio operator and front gunner. He acquired his accent mixing with Canadian airmen. After the end of the war he returned to acting before commentating on tennis and football.

He made his television wrestling commentary debut on the Independent Television network in November 1955, a job he kept for 33 years.

At its peak in the 1970s, Independent Television"s wrestling coverage, on World of Sport, could command up to 12 million between the football half-time and full-time results (4–440pm) on Saturdays. Although fans of Independent Television"s wrestling coverage reportedly included the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen Mother and Margaret Thatcher, enthusiasm was not shared by Independent Television"s Head of Sport, Greg Dyke, and in 1988 he dropped the sport, a blow from which it never recovered.

Kent Walton was a disc jockey on Radio Luxembourg, and for a time presented two music television shows, Honey Hit Parade and Cool for Cats. In the early sixties, he acted as a judge on Thank Your Lucky Stars on Independent Television. Hall of Fame (Class of 2011).

Achievements

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2011).