Who is Trevor McDonald?
Sir Trevor McDonald OBE (born George McDonald) is a Trinidadian-British newsreader and journalist. He is best known for his career as a news presenter with ITN. In 1999, he was knighted for his services to journalism.
How Old Is Trevor McDonald?
He is 83 years old as of March 2023, having been born on August 16, 1939, in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago, British Windward Islands. Trevor McDonald shares his birthdate with celebrities such as; Miss Charli, Piper Curda, Arden Cho, James Cameron, and many more.
Trevor McDonald Family
Who are Trevor McDonald’s Parents?
He was born to Lawson McDonald (Father) and Geraldine McDonald (Mother). His father is of Indian descent whereas his mother is of African descent.
Does Trevor McDonald have Siblings?
There is no news on the internet showing whether he has siblings or not. In case there is news regarding this matter, we will update it here as soon as possible.
Trevor McDonald Education
He holds honorary degrees from The University of Plymouth and Liverpool John Moores University.
Trevor McDonald’s Marital Status
News on the internet shows that he is possibly single. However, he has been previously married twice. First, he was married to Beryl, they were married from 1964 until 1985. Second, he was married to Josephine McDonald they married in 1986 but separated in 2020.
Trevor McDonald Kids
He has three kids. Two of his kids from his marriage to Beryl, kids by the name of Joanne and Tim. And one kid from his marriage to Josephine, a kid by the name of Jack.
Trevor McDonald Career
An Early Career
During the 1960s, he worked as a print and broadcast journalist in Trinidad. In 1969, he was employed as a producer by BBC, based in London but still broadcasting to the Caribbean. In 1973, he began his long association with Independent Television News as a general reporter and was also ITN’s first black reporter. Later, he became a sports correspondent but he ultimately concentrated on international politics. In the 1980s, he spent some time with the ITB-produced Channel 4 News, but in 1989 returned to ITV, presenting the early-evening news.
A Career at News at Ten
In 1992, he was promoted to the sole presenter of News at Ten and became a well-known face on British television screens. He stayed with ITN when News at Ten was axed in 1999, moving to present the new ITV Evening News. On January 22, 2001, News at Ten was briefly relaunched and McDonald returned as a presenter. Following News at Ten’s second axing, he presented ITV News at 10:30.
A Career at Tonight
He hosted ITV’s flagship current affairs program Tonight with Trevor McDonald from 1999 to 2007. The show was revived with presenter Julie Etchingham in 2010.
A First Retirement Career
On December 15, 2005, he presented his last ITV News bulletin. He then stepped down from his role as anchor after more than 30 years at ITN, but said he had no plans to retire completely from television. He told his ITN colleagues that he wanted a low-key departure after having observed the departures of Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather in the United States. Over the closing titles of the last bulletin that he presented, November 1992 to March 1999 News at Ten themes was played as a tribute to him.
A Career return to News at Ten
ITV announced on October 31, 2007, that in early 2008 McDonald would come out of retirement to present the relaunched News at Ten together with Julie Etchingham.
A Second Retirement
On October 30, 2008, it was announced that McDonald would step down from News at Ten once the 2008 US presidential election was over, to be replaced by Mark Austin. His last bulletin was on November 20, 2008. It was reported at the time that he would continue to present links for Tonight.
Documentaries
He traveled to the Caribbean in 2009 and hosted the three-part series The Secret Caribbean with Trevor McDonald for ITV. In 2011, he traveled around the Mediterranean and hosted the four-part series The Secret Mediterranean with Trevor McDonald for ITV. The following year, he traveled along the route of the Mississippi River and hosted the three-part series The Mighty Mississippi with Trevor McDonald. In 2013, he visited death row inmates in Indiana and hosted the two-part series Inside Death Row.
Early in 2015, he traveled to New York City and hosted the two-part series The Mafia with Trevor McDonald. In late 2015, he presented Las Vegas with Trevor McDonald, a two-part series for ITV. In September 2016, he presented a two-part series called Inside Scotland Yard With Trevor McDonald for ITV. He went on and presented a two-part documentary Mafia Women with Trevor McDonald for ITV in February 2017. In late 2017, he presented a documentary called An Hour to Catch a Killer for ITV. In February 2018, he presented Death Row 2018 with Trevor McDonald for ITV. That same month, he presented James Bulger: A Mother’s Story with Trevor McDonald for ITV.
In September 2018, he presented To Catch a Serial Killer with Trevor McDonald for ITV. The following year in February. he presented Fred & Rose West: The Real Story with Trevor McDonald for ITV. In January 2021, he presented a two-part documentary called And Finally… with Trevor McDonald for ITV. That same year in May, he co-presented a documentary called Trevor McDonald & Charlene White: Has George Floyd Changed Britain? for ITV. On March 17, 2022, he presented the ITV documentary The Killing of PC Harper: A Wife’s Story.
A Career in Other Work and Media Appearances
In 1996, he presented the “Hogmanay at the Palace”. He has also presented the TV series Undercover Customs, which created reconstructions of major HM Customs and Excise investigations in the UK. On April 21, 2006, he presented an episode of Have I Got News for You. There, he delivered several autocue jokes, some of which were extremely risque. This became his first appearance in any capacity on the show since 1992. Formerly, he was a Chancellor of London South Bank University.
Also, he has intimate ties with King’s College School in Wimbledon where he is now a governor. He is the author of biographies of the cricketers Viv Richards and Clive Lloyd. He has worked as an editor of poetry anthologies and his autobiography Fortunate Circumstances was published in 1993. Lenny Henry’s comic character Trevor McDoughnut is a parody of McDonald’s. McDonald once surprised Henry by walking into the studio to sit with Henry during a performance of “McDoughnut” on Tiswas.
Other Work Continuation
In the summer of 1996, he performed live in Hyde Park with the Who, as the newsreader in the group’s staging of their Quadrophenia. In June 2007, he hosted the new ITV version of This Is Your Life, Simon Cowell being the program’s “victim”. From June to August 2007, he presented the satirical panel shows News Knight with Sir Trevor McDonald on ITV1. In August 2010, he conducted a live on-stage interview with Archbishop Desmond Tutu at Fairfield Halls in Croydon at an event entitled An Audience with Desmond Tutu.
In 2014, he presented a media training course entitled “Deal with the Media with Sir Trevor McDonald”. He then presented a special edition of Countdown in September 2021, as part of Channel 4’s Black to Front Day. In 2021, he appeared as the titular character in E4’s revival of GamesMaster. He was a guest presenter on Countdown in November 2022.
Trevor McDonald Height and Measurements
His body measurements are not mentioned on the internet. But he stands at an average height and a moderate weight.
Trevor McDonald’s Salary and Net Worth
He has reported an annual salary of £600,000 and has an estimated net worth of $5 million.