Franklin Engelmann was born in Wood Green, London, the son of Friedrich August E. Engelmann (1874–1950), a German importer, and his wife, Ida Josephine Cox (1875–1967), born in Worcester.
His first broadcast followed a request by NBC to stand in as a commentator on London events, and in 1940 he joined the BBC as an announcer.
He served with the Royal Engineers during the Second World War, and worked with the Allied Expeditionary Forces.
He was best known for hosting Down Your Way (1955–1972), in which he took part in 730 programmes;[1] Gardeners' Question Time (1961–1972); and the quiz show What Do You Know?, which later became Brain of Britain.
[1] He died of a heart attack two days before his 64th birthday, when he was due to host the 1000th edition of Gardeners' Question Time.