Sir Michael Parkinson called George Best his 'pal' and considered him the greatest player he’d ever seen

The chat show host, who died last night peacefully at home surrounded by loved ones, interviewed the east Belfast footballer more than a dozen times and wrote a book about their friendship in 2018.

Sir Michael interviewed some of Hollywood’s biggest names throughout his illustrious career including Jimmy Cagney, Fred Astaire, Lauren Bacall and Ingrid Bergmann.

A statement from his family said: “After a brief illness Sir Michael Parkinson passed away peacefully at home last night in the company of his family.

“The family request that they are given privacy and time to grieve.”

Sir Michael and George Best became friends when the latter arrived in Manchester at the age of 16.

Last year, during an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live, Parkinson said: "George was my pal, and the greatest player I ever saw… by a mile.

"I can't talk about George without wanting to cry.”

The former Manchester United and Northern Ireland icon died at the age of 59 in 2005 due to illnesses linked to alcoholism.

Sir Michael said: "I met George when he was 16 when he first came to Manchester and I knew him until the day he died," Parkinson added.

"And I can't be even-minded about George. I mean, he was the greatest soccer player I ever saw. He was also a very good friend.

"A good friend, a loyal friend, and I loved him. Simple as that."

In another interview, this time with the Irish Times, Sir Michael discussed George's reliance on alcohol.

He said: "I think he liked the fact that I wasn’t too magisterial in my attitude towards what might be called the more colourful side of his life.

"There were responsibilities, and I would try to persuade him from that downward path but, as with any addict, it’s a problem, and George was a drunk.

"That was his flaw, and the more you knew him the more obvious it became to you – not to him – that he would suffer, in a sense, a tragic end, and that’s what happened to him and we couldn’t do anything to stop him.

"In the end we didn’t even try because we knew he wasn’t listening, but you forgave him all that because of the memories."

Sir Michael became a familiar face on both the BBC and ITV because of his intimate celebrity interviews, most notably on the BBC show Parkinson.

Parkinson first aired on the BBC on June 19 1971, and enjoyed a successful run until 1982. In 1998, the chat show was revived on the BBC and proved an instant hit.

It switched from the BBC to ITV1 in 2004 and ran until 2007 – the same year Sir Michael retired from his Sunday morning Radio 2 programme.

His career saw him welcome the likes of boxer Muhammad Ali, sporting star David Beckham and Rod Hull – with puppet Emu – on to his chat shows during a long and distinguished career.

Headline making interviews throughout his career included those with actresses Dame Helen Mirren and US star Meg Ryan.

He famously introduced stage and screen star Dame Helen as the “sex queen” of the Royal Shakespeare Company during their 1975 chat show encounter, and asked if her “equipment” hindered her being recognised as a serious actress.

In 2003, his interview with Ryan made headlines following a frosty one-on-one with the Hollywood actress while she was promoting the poorly received erotic thriller In The Cut.

Ryan sat stony-faced for the sit-down, delivering one-word answers after allegedly being rude to her fellow guests on the show, the fashion double act Trinny and Susannah.

Former cricket umpire Dickie Bird remembered his “dear friend” Sir Michael Parkinson saying, “there will never be another Parky” .

Bird, 90, and Sir Michael opened the batting for Barnsley Cricket Club together and remained friends, with the sports star saying they spoke “the other morning”.

The former Yorkshire batter and international umpire told the PA news agency: “He was so close to me. We were friends since we were youngsters, his father and my father worked down the mines together in Barnsley and we have been friends all of our lives.”

He added: “His friendship meant more to me than anything else. It meant so much to me. Our friendship, if I wanted any advice I would ring Parky up. He helped me in so many, many ways.

“There will never be a chat show host like Michael Parkinson. He was the best.

“There will never be anyone better than him in your lifetime, my lifetime or anyone else’s lifetime.”

Before his TV career, Sir Michael started life as an only child, growing up in a council house in the coalmining village of Cudworth, near Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

As a teenager, his miner father took him down the pit to put him off working there.

When his dreams of playing cricket for Yorkshire were dashed, he left school aged 16 and began working at a local paper, later joining the Manchester Guardian and then the Daily Express.

His first TV job was as a producer at Granada, and he later moved to Thames TV, before landing his chat show Parkinson at the BBC.

He had a short-lived term at TV-am as part of the original presenting line-up alongside the likes of Angela Rippon and David Frost, and appeared on the shows Give Us A Clue, one-off drama Ghostwatch and Going For A Song.

Sir Michael brought down the curtain on more than 30 years of his chat show at the end of 2007 with a final show featuring David Beckham, Sir Michael Caine, Sir David Attenborough, Dame Judi Dench, Dame Edna Everage, Sir Billy Connolly, Peter Kay and Jamie Cullum in a two-hour special.

On the final show, he said: “Over the years it has been a privilege to meet some of the most intelligent and interesting people. It has always been a great joy and I shall miss it.”

As well as his television career, he was a respected radio broadcaster, having hosted Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4 as well as his own sports shows on Five Live. He was also an award-winning sports writer, having been a lifelong cricket fan.

Sir Michael was knighted by the late Queen at Buckingham Palace in 2008, and said of the accolade: “I never expected to be knighted – I thought there was more chance of me turning into a Martian really.”

In 2013, he spoke openly about being diagnosed with prostate cancer following a routine health check. He had three sons with wife Mary, who he married in 1959.