Famed English broadcaster David Attenborough’s career has spanned nearly as many decades as his life. The historian, who turned 100 on May 8, began his career as a producer with the BBC nearly 75 years ago, in 1952. His hosting journey started not long after with the network’s 1954 multipart nature documentary, Zoo Quest.
It would be 30 years before Attenborough received his first Emmy nomination, in 1985, for writing PBS’ The Living Planet: A Portrait of the Earth. His first narrator nod wouldn’t come for yet another 30 years, in 2016, for the six-part BBC series Life Story. In 2018, Attenborough won his first Emmy for BBC’s marine life sequel Blue Planet II.
Director of photography Doug Anderson films the coral reefs of Raja Ampat, Indonesia on Ocean With David Attenborough.
Silverback Films and Open Planet Studios/Keith Scholey
Two additional outstanding narrator wins followed in 2019 for Our Planet, Netflix’s first-ever nature doc, and in 2020 for the BBC’s Seven Worlds, One Planet. This year, Attenborough could score his 13th nod for National Geographic’s Ocean With David Attenborough, streaming on Disney+ and Hulu. The project, which both champions the wonders of marine life and explores the challenges it faces, has a perfect score of 100 on Rotten Tomatoes.
“What is extraordinary about David at 100 is that his energy, curiosity and passion for the natural world remain as strong as ever,” says director and executive producer Keith Scholey, who has worked with Attenborough for more than 40 years. “Over the course of his remarkable career, he has built an unparalleled level of trust with audiences around the world. That trust, combined with the power of his storytelling and narration, helped make Ocean a film that truly connected with audiences around the world and supported real-world policy change by driving meaningful global conversations about protecting our oceans.”
This story first appeared in a June stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.