He is best remembered for creating and performing the English narration for The Magic Roundabout,[1] which he adapted from the original French Le Manège enchanté.
Eric Norman Thompson was born on 9 November 1929 in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, England, the son of Annie (née Jackson) and George Henry Thompson, a hotel waiter,[2] and grew up in Rudgwick, Sussex, attending Collyer's School, Horsham.
[1] Thompson worked regularly for the BBC, and was a presenter of the children's television programme Play School from 1964 to 1967.
He was best known as the narrator of The Magic Roundabout, for which he also wrote the English language scripts, using the visuals from the original French Le Manège enchanté.
Thompson rarely worked in television after his voice became well known, but occasionally appeared in programmes including Doctor Finlay's Casebook (episode: "Beware of the Dog"), Doctor Who in the serial The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve in 1966, and in two episodes of Coronation Street, in 1964 and 1969 (playing two different characters).