The only daughter and youngest of four children of the diplomat and politician
Sir Ian Malcolm and
Jeanne Langtry (1881–1964) and granddaughter of the
Victorian socialite and actress
Lillie Langtry, a mistress of
King Edward VII, Mary Malcolm was born in
Marylebone and brought up partly in Poltalloch,
Argyll,
Scotland. Until the age of sixteen, she attended the
Lycée Français de Londres in
South Kensington, London. She began her television career in 1948, having gained broadcasting experience on the
radio during the Second World War. At this time, all television programmes were introduced by an in-vision host or hostess and broadcasts were normally live. Malcolm received no training and became known for her
spoonerisms: "By the end of the day I was tired, and when I came to the weather forecast I just read it out without really trying. My biggest fear was 'drain and rizzle', which I said more than once." Malcolm left the BBC in 1956 although she continued to appear as a guest on various programmes including an episode of the comedy series
The Goodies. Her
autobiography,
Me, was published in 1956. ==Personal life==