Alan Keith
Encyclopedia
Alan Keith OBE
(born Alexander Kossoff) (19 October 1908 – 17 March 2003) was a British
actor
, disc jockey
and radio
presenter, noted for being the longest serving and oldest presenter on British radio, at the time of his death aged 94.
and educated at Dame Alice Owen's School at Islington
. In 1926 he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
, where he Anglicized his name to Alan Keith. He graduated in 1928 with the Silver Medal, and spent the next eight years on the West End
and Broadway
stage.
radio, appearing in dozens of radio plays as a member of the drama stock company and spending three years as an interviewer for In Town Tonight
. He also acted in films, appearing in Dangerous Moonlight
(1941), The World Owes Me a Living
(1945), The Long Knife
(1958) and Yesterday's Enemy
(1959). In pre-war television
broadcasts, he discovered he had a facility with American
accents, and he continued to play American characters on television and radio through the 1940s and 1950s.
, a programme of light classical
music, operetta and ballads. Keith chose the original 100 pieces himself, but in subsequent years they were periodically voted on by listeners.
In early March, 2003, at the age of 94, he recorded an announcement that he intended to retire from the programme after 44 years. However, he fell ill almost immediately afterwards, and died soon after; his final programme was broadcast 12 days after his death.
, whose son Paul Kossoff
was guitarist with the rock band Free
.
In the mid 1960s Keith's "wild" and beautiful teenaged daughter, Linda, became well connected culturally in the early days of "Swinging London
". She was photographed by David Bailey
and, together with Shiela Klein, partner of the Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Oldham, was at the heart of a bohemian
community in London's West Hampstead
. She formed relationships with Keith Richards
of the Stones and, later in New York
, Jimi Hendrix
, but drifted into drug dependency. Richards appears to have been instrumental in Alan Keith's going out to America to find his daughter. On their return she was made a ward of court. She later brought up her own family and, in 2010, was living in New Orleans. According to Richards, Linda Keith was the subject of the song, "Ruby Tuesday" ("When you change with every new day/Still I'm gonna miss you").
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born Alexander Kossoff) (19 October 1908 – 17 March 2003) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
and radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
presenter, noted for being the longest serving and oldest presenter on British radio, at the time of his death aged 94.
Background
Alexander Kossoff was born in the East End of LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and educated at Dame Alice Owen's School at Islington
Islington
Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...
. In 1926 he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...
, where he Anglicized his name to Alan Keith. He graduated in 1928 with the Silver Medal, and spent the next eight years on the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
and Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
stage.
Career
By 1935, Alan Keith was already an established voice on BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
radio, appearing in dozens of radio plays as a member of the drama stock company and spending three years as an interviewer for In Town Tonight
In Town Tonight
In Town Tonight was a BBC radio programme broadcast on Saturday evening from 1933 to 1960 . It was an early example of the chat show, originally presented by Eric Maschwitz.Its theme music was the Knightsbridge March by Eric Coates...
. He also acted in films, appearing in Dangerous Moonlight
Dangerous Moonlight
Dangerous Moonlight is a 1941 British film, starring Anton Walbrook, best known for its score written by Richard Addinsell with orchestrations by Roy Douglas, which includes the Warsaw Concerto...
(1941), The World Owes Me a Living
The World Owes Me a Living
The World Owes Me a Living is a 1945 British World War II film drama, directed by Vernon Sewell and starring David Farrar and Judy Campbell. The film is based on a novel by John Llewellyn Rhys, a young author who was killed in action in 1940 while serving in the Royal Air Force...
(1945), The Long Knife
The Long Knife
The Long Knife is a 1958 British crime film directed by Montgomery Tully and starring Joan Rice, Sheldon Lawrence and Victor Brooks. A young nurse becomes drawn into criminal activities.-Cast:* Joan Rice - Jill Holden* Sheldon Lawrence - Ross Waters...
(1958) and Yesterday's Enemy
Yesterday's Enemy
Yesterday's Enemy is a 1959 Hammer Films British war film directed by Val Guest and starring Stanley Baker, Guy Rolfe, Leo McKern and Gordon Jackson set in the Burma Campaign during World War II. It is based on a 1958 BBC teleplay by Peter R. Newman who turned it into a three act play in 1960. ...
(1959). In pre-war television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
broadcasts, he discovered he had a facility with American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
accents, and he continued to play American characters on television and radio through the 1940s and 1950s.
Your Hundred Best Tunes
Beginning in the early 1950s, he devoted time to devising and presenting music programmes for the BBC. In 1959, he devised Your Hundred Best TunesYour Hundred Best Tunes
Your Hundred Best Tunes was a long-running BBC radio music programme, always broadcast on Sunday evenings, which presented popular works which were mostly classical excerpts, choral works, opera and ballads. The hundred tunes which made up the playlist were initially selected by the creator and...
, a programme of light classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
music, operetta and ballads. Keith chose the original 100 pieces himself, but in subsequent years they were periodically voted on by listeners.
In early March, 2003, at the age of 94, he recorded an announcement that he intended to retire from the programme after 44 years. However, he fell ill almost immediately afterwards, and died soon after; his final programme was broadcast 12 days after his death.
Family
Keith married Pearl Rebuck in 1941 and their son Sir Brian Keith (born 14 April 1944) has been a High Court judge since 2001. He was the elder brother of fellow actor David KossoffDavid Kossoff
David Kossoff was a British actor. Following the death of his son Paul, a rock musician, he became an anti-drug campaigner...
, whose son Paul Kossoff
Paul Kossoff
Paul Francis Kossoff was an English rock guitarist best known as a member of the band Free.Kossoff was ranked 51st in Rolling Stone magazine list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" -Early days:...
was guitarist with the rock band Free
Free (band)
Free were an English rock band, formed in London in 1968, best known for their 1970 signature song "All Right Now". They disbanded in 1973 and lead singer Paul Rodgers went on to become a frontman of the band Bad Company along with Simon Kirke on drums; lead guitarist Paul Kossoff died from a...
.
In the mid 1960s Keith's "wild" and beautiful teenaged daughter, Linda, became well connected culturally in the early days of "Swinging London
Swinging London
Swinging London is a catch-all term applied to the fashion and cultural scene that flourished in London, in the 1960s.It was a youth-oriented phenomenon that emphasised the new and modern. It was a period of optimism and hedonism, and a cultural revolution. One catalyst was the recovery of the...
". She was photographed by David Bailey
David Bailey
David Royston Bailey CBE is an English photographer.-Early life:He was born in Leytonstone, but his family were forced to move to Heigham Road, East Ham when a World War II bomb destroyed their home. Bailey was three years old, and this is where he and Thelma, his younger sister, were raised by...
and, together with Shiela Klein, partner of the Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Oldham, was at the heart of a bohemian
Bohemian style
In modern usage, the term "Bohemian" is applied to people who live unconventional, usually artistic, lives. The adherents of the "Bloomsbury Group", which formed around the Stephen sisters, Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf in the early 20th century, are among the best-known examples...
community in London's West Hampstead
West Hampstead
West Hampstead is an area in northwest London, England, situated between Childs Hill to the north, Frognal and Hampstead to the north-east, Swiss Cottage to the east, and South Hampstead to the south. Until the late 19th century, the locale was a small village called West End...
. She formed relationships with Keith Richards
Keith Richards
Keith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
of the Stones and, later in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, but drifted into drug dependency. Richards appears to have been instrumental in Alan Keith's going out to America to find his daughter. On their return she was made a ward of court. She later brought up her own family and, in 2010, was living in New Orleans. According to Richards, Linda Keith was the subject of the song, "Ruby Tuesday" ("When you change with every new day/Still I'm gonna miss you").
External links
- http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20030319/ai_n12677238Obituary, The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, 19 March 2003] - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/03/19/db1902.xmlObituary, The Daily TelegraphThe Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, 19 March 2003]