During the
Second World War he served in the RAF. In 1942, while on leave, he first broadcast
Down Lambeth Way, a talk programme for Forces radio. After the war, Modlyn submitted a string of programme ideas to the BBC, without success. In 1964, Modlyn was an outside broadcaster for the
Jack de Manio early morning radio programme
Today. In the late 1960s he took part in pilot shows for
Tyne Tees TV, including a Christmas Special. He presented
The World of Monty Modlyn for Tyne Tees and in 1969 he moved to
Thames Television as a reporter on
Eamonn Andrews' evening magazine programme
Today. Modlyn cultivated an
East End working-class image, together with an apparent lack of respect for the rich and famous. One interview in this vein was with Ugandan dictator
Idi Amin Dada, who was asked directly how many he had murdered. Amin responded: "You very cheeky man!" Modlyn was delighted by that, and adopted a theme song: ::
Pardon my cheek, and the way that I speak, but no matter where I go ::''To common or gentry, I talk element'ry'' ::
In the only way I know. Modlyn published his autobiography,
Pardon My Cheek, in 1971. In 1973 he joined the original team at
Capital Radio and four years later in 1977, he moved to
LBC radio. On LBC he presented
Monty Modlyn at Large and a series called ''Monty's Pub'' where he visited a different public house every week. As well as pubs, Modlyn had a fondness for smoked salmon and cream cheese bagels, which he would consume each week during his Sunday evening phone-in show on LBC. In September 1979,
Jeremy Beadle replaced him in this role after Beadle wrote to the radio station telling them to sack Modlyn. Former BBC Producer
Roger Ordish has claimed, as part of an audiobook "extra" to the documentary maker
Louis Theroux's autobiography, that Modlyn was his first choice to present what was later titled ''
Jim'll Fix It'' but he was overruled. In 1982 Radio 4 broadcast
Modlyn Through, a portrait of the broadcaster. == Personal life and death ==