# David Parry-Jones > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/David_Parry-Jones > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/David_Parry-Jones.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Parry-Jones > Source revision: 1314367560 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Welsh sports commentator}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}} '''David Parry-Jones''' (25 September 1933 – 10 April 2017) was a Welsh sports commentator, TV current affairs presenter and writer. He presented ''[BBC Wales Today](/source/BBC_Wales_Today)'' for many years and was a [rugby](/source/Rugby_football) analyst for [BBC Radio 5](/source/BBC_Radio_5_Live). He was the author of books on the sport of rugby; including several on the history of rugby in Wales.{{cite news|url=https://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/article813602.ece|title=Gwilliam's legacy to Welsh rugby underplayed again|first=David|last=Hands|newspaper=The Times|location=London|date=18 January 2003|archive-date=24 May 2011|access-date=26 September 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524032220/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/article813602.ece|url-status=dead}} ==Life and career== Parry-Jones was born in [Pontypridd](/source/Pontypridd) on 25 September 1933.{{cite book|editor1-last=Levens|editor1-first=R.G.C.|title=Merton College Register 1900-1964|date=1964|publisher=Basil Blackwell|location=Oxford|page=437}} In 1952, after attending school in Cardiff, he went up to [Merton College, Oxford](/source/Merton_College%2C_Oxford), where he read Classics and captained the Greyhounds rugby union and Authentics and college cricket teams. After completing his [national service](/source/national_service), in 1959 he took up journalism and went on to become one of the BBC's best-known rugby commentators, most notably for his description of [Llanelli](/source/Llanelli_RFC)'s famous win over the [All Blacks](/source/All_Blacks) in 1972.{{cite news|last1=Rees|first1=Jasper|title=Beti and David: Lost for Words: the more people that watch this film the better – review|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2017/03/09/beti-david-lost-words-people-watch-film-better-review/|accessdate=10 March 2017|work=The Telegraph|publisher=Telegraph Media Group Limited|date=9 March 2017}} He was more familiar to television viewers as a regular presenter of the nightly regional news programme ''Wales Today'', which he hosted during the 1960s and 1970s. Parry-Jones was the long-term partner of the broadcaster [Beti George](/source/Beti_George) and lived in Cardiff. From 2009 he suffered from [Alzheimer's disease](/source/Alzheimer's_disease), and Beti George raised awareness of the condition through the Welsh media. In 2013 [S4C](/source/S4C) showed a programme about the disease, ''Un o Bob Tri'' ("One in Every Three"),{{cite web| author=S4C |url=http://www.s4c.co.uk/ffeithiol/c_un_bob_tri.shtml |title=Un o Bob Tri – Beti George |work=S4C |date=11 December 2013 |accessdate=14 September 2016|language=Welsh}} and Beti George presented a programme, ''The Dreaded Disease – David's Story'', on [BBC Radio Wales](/source/BBC_Radio_Wales).{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/wales/posts/The-Dreaded-Disease-Davids-Story |title=The Dreaded Disease – David's Story |publisher=BBC |date=11 December 2013 |accessdate=14 September 2016}} In February 2017, [BBC One Wales](/source/BBC_One_Wales) produced a documentary, ''Beti and David: Lost for Words'', that followed the couple over a number of months, and looked at the challenges and frustrations faced by carers in Wales.{{cite web|title=Beti and David: Lost for Words|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08fnvq4/beti-and-david-lost-for-words|publisher=BBC iPlayer|accessdate=10 March 2017}} Parry-Jones died on 10 April 2017, at a [hospice](/source/hospice) in [Penarth](/source/Penarth).[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-39553211 "Veteran BBC broadcaster David Parry-Jones dies aged 83", BBC News, 10 April 2017] ==Selected works== *''The Dawes Decades: John Dawes and the Third Golden Era of Welsh Rugby'' (2006) *''The Gwilliam Seasons: John Gwilliam and the Second Golden Era of Welsh Rugby'' (2003) *''Prince Gwyn: Gwyn Nicholls and the First Golden Era of Welsh Rugby'' (1999) *''Action Replay – A Media Memoir'' (1993) *''The Rugby Clubs of Wales'' (1989) *''Rugby Remembered: From the Pages of the Illustrated London News'' (1988) *''Out of the Ruck'' (1986) *''Boots, Balls and Banter: Collection of Rugby Stories'' (1980) ==References== {{Reflist}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Parry Jones, David}} Category:1933 births Category:2017 deaths Category:Welsh sports broadcasters Category:Welsh rugby union commentators Category:Welsh sportswriters Category:People from Pontypridd Category:Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Category:Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in Wales --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [David Parry-Jones](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Parry-Jones) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Parry-Jones?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.