Keith Fordyce Marriott (15 October 1928 – 15 March 2011) was an English disc jockey and presenter on British radio and television.
He was both the first presenter of the ITV television pop music programme Thank Your Lucky Stars in 1961 and of the youth-orientated magazine show Ready Steady Go!
Fordyce was born on 15 October 1928 in the St. Giles district of Lincoln, the son of HM Customs and Excise officer Frank Joseph Marriott and his wife, Catherine Mary (née Armstrong).
[2][3] Fordyce was seconded to the British Forces Network (now BFBS) in Hamburg,[5][6] and he conducted sports commentary, continuity announcing, disc jockeying, producing and presenting.
[4][12][13] The same year saw him successfully contest a municipal election and he served as a Conservative Party councillor on Wimbledon Borough Council.
[9][12] Fordyce was offered the role of a staff announcer at Radio Luxembourg in 1955 and remained at the broadcaster as Head of its British Department for three years.
[9] In August 1963 he presented the first edition of the Friday night live hour-long youth-orientated pop music magazine Ready Steady Go!
[7][9] In 1967 he provided the commentary for the BBC's first colour test transmission on BBC2, the first men's singles final of the Open era at Wimbledon.
[25][26] For nine years beginning in 1979, he hosted the Saturday morning BBC Radio 2 quiz programme Beat the Record in which listeners had to identify pieces of light music.
[2][27] Fordyce married the microbiologist Anne Mercer at the St Mary the Virgin Church in Merton, Surrey on 6 February 1954.