 TV presenter and journalist Anne Robinson is best known for hosting the long-running game show The Weakest Link (BBC, 2000-) in which her rude and abrasive manner has earned her the mantle of 'Queen of Mean'. This persona has served Robinson well, infamously causing controversy on Room 101 (BBC2, tx. 5/3/2001) when she insulted the Welsh with the glib comment "what are they for?". She was born on 26th September 1944 in Crosby, Lancashire. Her initial rise to prominence came via the hard-nosed, hard-drinking and cynical culture of the male-dominated world of Fleet Street, culminating in becoming the first woman assistant editor of the Sunday Mirror in 1980. However, this success was paralleled by alcoholism, and the loss of the custody of her two-year-old daughter in 1973. This formed the backdrop of Robinson's autobiography Memoirs of an Unfit Mother (2001). Her rise to television fame came as a presenter on the BBC's Points of View (1985-95), and the consumer-led programme Watchdog (1994-2000). The success of The Weakest Link and its American version, which Robinson also hosted, has made her one of television's top female earners. Indeed, Robinson has often negotiated more lucrative pay deals than her male peers, paving the way for other women to secure senior media jobs. Eddie Dyja
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FILM & TV CREDITS