Charles Mitchel who has been reading the news on RTÉ since the opening night of Irish television shares some memories.
After 22 years of bringing the news to viewers on RTÉ, Charles Mitchel is due to retire on 8 November.
Before becoming a familiar face as a broadcaster on our television screens, Charles Mitchel was an actor, a boxer and a ballroom dancer.
He only got into television reading the news because they couldn't get anyone else to do it at the time.
Charles Mitchel explains how he has a lucky pig, a charm which he has always had on him since the opening night of television on 31 December 1961. The pig was a gift from his wife for his first broadcast.
I've had that on every news broadcast since 1961.
For many years Charles Mitchel has received fan mail and he makes a point of replying to every letter he receives.
His most outstanding memory from the RTÉ newsroom is the night of the assassination of US President John F Kennedy on 23 November 1963. He also recalls almost announcing the death of Éamon de Valera when he was still very much alive after a hoax report was delivered to RTÉ.
When Charles Mitchel started working as a newsreader at RTÉ, he earned £26 a week. This was a lot more than he had earned as an actor in fit up theatre productions. He recalls travelling the country as an actor staying in primitive lodgings along the way. On one occasion, he discovered a coffin under his bed with the deceased inside.
This episode of The Late Late Show was broadcast on 27 October 1984. The presenter is Gay Byrne.
