Kenneth Kendall

Kenneth Kendall has died aged 88.

If my memory is correct it was Kenneth Kendall who, on 7th March 1962, looked us straight in the eye during the BBC 6 o’clock news broadcast & told us that, according to the Royal College of Physicians, it was now beyond doubt that smoking caused lung cancer.

I cannot find any confirmation of this, but in my researches I came across a report from only the day before in The Times, which told of an American study which had found that ‘11,000 employees in the [American Tobacco] company’s cigarette factories smoke more, live longer & have had fewer deaths from cancer or hearts disease than the general public.’
The Times also reported that ‘more than a third’ of the audience smoked throughout the press conference to launch the British report.

Which no doubt help to explain why there was no universal rush to stop, though plenty did.


Links
A report of the Royal College of Physicians on smoking in relation to cancer of the lung and other diseases
Kenneth Kendall, former broadcaster, dies

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