Bill Oddie: Comedian who found nature a welcome refuge from mental illness

Bill Oddie: Comedian who found nature a welcome refuge from mental illnessImage source, Getty ImagesPublished2 minutes agoBill Oddie, who has died at the age of 85, was one of Britain's best known comedians and naturalists.A product of the Cambridge Footlights, the cradle of so much post-war British comedy, he shot to fame in the 1970s as a member of the anarchic Goodies.Bird watching was a lifelong passion and he moved into presenting nature programmes, including the BBC's Springwatch.But his life was plagued by bouts of acute depression which caused repeated admissions to psychiatric hospitals - where Oddie suffered from severe lithium poisoning as a result of his treatment.Image caption, A beardless Bill Oddie (R) with the cast of I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again in 1965TV presenter and comedian Bill Oddie dies at 85Published21 minutes agoWilliam Edgar Oddie was born near Rochdale, Lancashire on 7 July 1941.His ancestors on both sides were mill workers. However, his father Harry had made good, moved to Birmingham and worked as an accountant at the Midlands Electricity Board.The comedian later said his father's work ethic greatly influenced his approach to his own career. But Bill saw little of his mother Lillian during his childhood.She had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and spent much of her time in hospital. Oddie later discovered that her depression had followed the premature deaths of his two older siblings.Image source, Radio Times via Getty ImagesImage caption, Future Goodies Bill Oddie and Graeme Garden photographed in 1973As a child, he became interested in bird watching; a record of one of his first observations was even preserved in a West Midlands Bird Club publication in 1956.After leaving King Edward's School, where he was an enthusiastic rugby player, he went to Pembroke College, Cambridge to read English.There he became involved with the Footlights Club, which numbered Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor among its mem...