Lew Grade
Encyclopedia
Lew Grade, Baron Grade born Lev Winogradsky, was an influential Russia
n-born English
impresario
and media mogul.
, Ukraine
, Russian Empire
to Olga and Isaac Winogradsky. In 1912 the Jewish family fled to a new life in the East End of London. Isaac managed a cinema, while his three sons (the others were Bernard Delfont
and Leslie Grade
) attended the Rochelle Street School in Bethnal Green
, near Shoreditch
, where Yiddish was spoken by 90% of the pupils. For two years they lived in rented rooms at the north end of Brick Lane
, then moved to the nearby Boundary Estate
. At 15 Louis became an agent for a clothing firm, and shortly afterwards started his own business. But after he won a Charleston
competition at the Royal Albert Hall
in 1926, he became a professional dancer under the name Louis Grad; his name's final form came from a Paris reporter's error which Grade liked and kept. Around 1934 he became a booking agent and soon went into partnership with the established agent Joe Collins (father of Jackie
and Joan Collins
). Among Grade's clients were harmonica player Larry Adler
and the jazz group The Quintet of the Hot Club of France
.
After the outbreak of the war in Europe in 1939, Grade became involved in arranging troops entertainment in Harrogate, which were popular, and subsequently after he joined the Army. He was invalided out of the forces after two years when an old problem with water on the knees, which had earlier ended his dancing career, reoccurred.
In 1945, Grade went into partnership with his brother Leslie (the arrangement with Joe Collins had by now been terminated) and spent some of his time in the United States where the brothers developed their interests. His connections led to Bob Hope
and Judy Garland
, among others, appearing in Britain for the first time.
, who notified him of an advertisement in The Times
inviting franchise bids for the new ITV
network. Assembling a consortium, including impresarios Val Parnell
and Prince Littler
, the Incorporated Television Programme Company (ITP), soon changing its name to Independent Television Company
was formed. Their bid to the Independent Television Authority
(ITA) was rejected owing to the conflict of interest from their involvement in artist management and prominent status. The Associated Broadcasting Development Company gained ITA approval for both the London (weekend) and Midlands (weekday) contracts, but was undercapitalised, and Grade's consortium joined with them to form what became Associated TeleVision
.
Grade was deputy managing director of ATV under Val Parnell
until 1962, but it was Grade who was responsible for committing the finance for what would become the companies' first success with an international audience: The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955-1960), commissioned by an American producer, Hannah Weinstein
, who was based in Britain.
The ITC
production company, a wholly owned ATV subsidiary from 1957, became known for many internationally successful TV series. Howard Thomas
, managing director of ABC
, another ITV contractor, was soon complaining that Grade made television programmes for Birmingham, Alabama rather than Birmingham, England.
These programmes included The Saint
(starring Roger Moore
several years before his period as James Bond
), and two series which involved Patrick McGoohan
: Danger Man
(also known as Secret Agent in the US) and The Prisoner
.
In 1962 the production house AP Films
became an ITC subsidiary. AP Films, co-founded by Gerry Anderson
, which produced a string of popular children's marionette adventure series including Supercar
, Fireball XL5, Stingray
, Thunderbirds
, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
, Joe 90
, three feature films, and the live-action sci-fi series UFO
and Space: 1999
. Although supportive of the produced shows, especially concerning Thunderbirds which he insisted on having the episodes be produced as an hour-long one on account of being so pleased by the premiere "Trapped in the Sky
", the consistent drive for success at home and abroad led to various artistic differences for Grade with McGoohan and Anderson, leading to a split with both.
The companies were reorganised again in 1966, under the Associated Communications Corporation umbrella. ATV lost its London franchise to what became London Weekend Television
in 1967, but at the same time the Midlands franchise was extended to the whole week. The new arrangement came into force from July 1968. Foreign sales remained buoyant, they were worth $30 million in 1970 and Grade's company received the Queen's Awards for Export
in 1967 and 1969. In the early 1970s though, a number of ITC series were flops including UFO
(1970–71); The Persuaders!
(1971–72), (its second series to star Roger Moore); and Grade's ultimate coup, The Julie Andrews Hour
(1972–1973), which lasted only one season on the ABC Television Network, and yet received excellent reviews and was awarded seven Emmy Awards including Best Variety Series.
in 1969. Grade and ATV Music Publishing
bought a majority share in Northern Songs
, the company established by Brian Epstein
which owned nearly all of the Beatles' catalogue. After a fierce battle, Grade and ATV won control of the company while controlling any other songs written by Paul McCartney
and John Lennon
between 1964 and 1971. (George Harrison
and Ringo Starr
broke from Northern Songs prior to Grade's acquisition.) ATV would retain control of Northern Songs until 1985, when the company sold the songs to Michael Jackson
.
, who was in need of assistance for a new television program. Henson wanted to create a new TV variety show starring his Muppet characters in the United States, but had been dismissed by the American networks for merely being part of children's shows like Sesame Street
. CBS
almost agreed to holding the show, but only if it aired during a syndicated block
of its programming and if it were produced by someone else. After watching one of Henson's pilots and recalling a special made in one of his studios, Grade decided to let Henson create his show in England and distribute it through ATV (in the United Kingdom to the ITV network) and ITC (for the United States and worldwide distribution). Grade's action was instrumental in bringing The Muppet Show
to the screen in 1976 and led to its wide success on both sides of the Atlantic and around the world. Henson chose to immortalize the great producer through the character Lew Lord (played by Orson Welles
) in The Muppet Movie
. There was also speculation for a time that Muppet Dr. Bunsen Honeydew was also a caricature of Grade, though this was denied (with a hint of regret) by Henson in a 1982 interview.
(1977), starring Robert Powell
. Grade had unique success in selling to the American market. The mini-series secured a record breaking $12m. He also promoted extravagant 'quality' productions on ATV to prove its equal to BBC TV, for instance giving over a whole evening schedule to a live broadcast of Tosca
from La Scala
starring Maria Callas
.
into theaters with assistance of United Artists
and with director Blake Edwards
and Peter Sellers
in his role of Inspector Clouseau
. Originally conceived as a TV series, Grade saw the potential of reviving the Pink Panther film franchise by turning it into a motion picture. Although there was tremendous controversy with Grade turning the project into a movie, a compromise was eventually made where United Artists would distribute the film in the United States while ITC would distribute for the rest of the world. When the Pink Panther film was a huge hit, it not only revived the franchise (which UA would resume on its own), but also made Grade move into films, hoping to have the same success as he had in television. While having notable films and modest successes in this period, the biggest success would come through 1979's The Muppet Movie
, partially tied to his successful deal with Jim Henson and the popularity of The Muppet Show
. Keeping his ideas about class alongside showmanship, Grade would also become the producer of Ingmar Bergman
films Autumn Sonata
and From the Life of the Marionettes
. Other notable films of the period include other co-releases such as The Boys From Brazil
with 20th Century Fox
starring Laurence Olivier
and Gregory Peck
and Stanley Donen's
Movie Movie
with Warner Brothers.
In 1980, Grade backed an expensive 'all-star' film version of Clive Cussler
's best-seller Raise the Titanic; Grade himself remarked that "It would have been cheaper to lower the Atlantic". Released the same year as The Empire Strikes Back, the middle of the original Star Wars
trilogy, RTT flopped as audience tastes had changed. This and other expensive duds—including Saturn 3
(also 1980) and The Legend of the Lone Ranger
(released the following year)--marked the end of Grade's involvement with major motion picture production. Amazingly, several of the most critically acclaimed films produced by Grade would come out after the disaster of Raise the Titanic: the Academy Award-winning films On Golden Pond
and Sophie's Choice
, as well as cult classic The Dark Crystal
, which was the final project Jim Henson
created in association with Grade and ITC.
's decision to end The Muppet Show
after a successful five year run, the bombing of Raise the Titanic, and a decision during the ITV
determination for the Midlands region effective 1 January 1982 that ATV
could keep their license under the condition that they remove their connection with Grade and ITC Entertainment (eventually leading to their rebrand as Central Television). He eventually stepped down from the company that he had led since the 1950s as it was put through a series of partnerships and mergers. Grade eventually was brought in by Norman Lear
to head the film unit of Embassy Pictures
but was never as influential or successful as he was during his long history in British television and film (even though he sat through the distribution of important and influential films such as Blade Runner
and This Is Spinal Tap
). He was also a producer of Andrew Lloyd Webber
's musical Starlight Express
.
By the mid-1990s, Grade once again returned to ITC, to head the company that he had created for one last time until his death.
as Baron Grade, of Elstree
in the County of Hertfordshire
in 1976, having been knighted
in 1969. He chose Elstree as his territorial designation
not after the famous Elstree Studios
, known at one time as "Britain's Hollywood", but because ATV's studios were also located there.
and featured interviews with Lady Grade, Lew's niece Anita Land and nephew Michael Grade
CBE (now Lord Grade of Yarmouth) (both the children of Leslie Grade), and nephew Ian Freeman, the son of his sister, Rita, plus a host of stars.
which depicted a series of Soviet cities like "Leningrad" and "Stalingrad," the name "Lew Grade" crops up.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n-born English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
impresario
Impresario
An impresario is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays or operas; analogous to a film producer in filmmaking, television production and an angel investor in business...
and media mogul.
Early years
He was born in TokmakTokmak, Ukraine
Tokmak is a city in the Zaporizhia Oblast of south-central Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Tokmatskyi Raion , the city itself is directly subordinate to the oblast, and is located at around .-Points of interest:*...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
to Olga and Isaac Winogradsky. In 1912 the Jewish family fled to a new life in the East End of London. Isaac managed a cinema, while his three sons (the others were Bernard Delfont
Bernard Delfont
Bernard Delfont, Baron Delfont , born Boris Winogradsky, was a leading Russian-born British theatrical impresario....
and Leslie Grade
Leslie Grade
Leslie Grade was a British talent agent and executive with The Grade Organisation. He was born Laszlo Winogradsky in Tokmak, Ukraine, Russian Empire...
) attended the Rochelle Street School in Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green is a district of the East End of London, England and part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, with the far northern parts falling within the London Borough of Hackney. Located northeast of Charing Cross, it was historically an agrarian hamlet in the ancient parish of Stepney,...
, near Shoreditch
Shoreditch
Shoreditch is an area of London within the London Borough of Hackney in England. It is a built-up part of the inner city immediately to the north of the City of London, located east-northeast of Charing Cross.-Etymology:...
, where Yiddish was spoken by 90% of the pupils. For two years they lived in rented rooms at the north end of Brick Lane
Brick Lane
Brick Lane is a street in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. It runs from Swanfield Street in the northern part of Bethnal Green, crosses Bethnal Green Road, passes through Spitalfields and is linked to Whitechapel High Street to the south by the short stretch of...
, then moved to the nearby Boundary Estate
Boundary Estate
The Boundary Estate is a housing development, formally opened in 1900, in the East End of London, England. It is situated in the north western corner of Bethnal Green in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and on the boundary with Shoreditch, in the London Borough of Hackney.The estate, constructed...
. At 15 Louis became an agent for a clothing firm, and shortly afterwards started his own business. But after he won a Charleston
Charleston (dance)
The Charleston is a dance named for the harbor city of Charleston, South Carolina. The rhythm was popularized in mainstream dance music in the United States by a 1923 tune called "The Charleston" by composer/pianist James P. Johnson which originated in the Broadway show Runnin' Wild and became one...
competition at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
in 1926, he became a professional dancer under the name Louis Grad; his name's final form came from a Paris reporter's error which Grade liked and kept. Around 1934 he became a booking agent and soon went into partnership with the established agent Joe Collins (father of Jackie
Jackie Collins
Jacqueline Jill "Jackie" Collins is an English novelist and former actress. She is the younger sister of actress Joan Collins. She has written 28 novels, all of which have appeared on the New York Times bestsellers list. In total, her books have sold over 400 million copies and have been...
and Joan Collins
Joan Collins
Joan Henrietta Collins, OBE , is an English actress, author, and columnist. Born in Paddington and raised in Maida Vale, Collins grew up during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she made her stage debut in A Doll's House and after attending school, she was classically trained as an actress...
). Among Grade's clients were harmonica player Larry Adler
Larry Adler
Lawrence "Larry" Cecil Adler was an American musician, widely acknowledged as one of the world's most skilled harmonica players. Composers such as Ralph Vaughan Williams, Malcolm Arnold, Darius Milhaud and Arthur Benjamin composed works for him...
and the jazz group The Quintet of the Hot Club of France
Quintette du Hot Club de France
Quintette du Hot Club de France was a jazz group founded in France in 1934 by guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stéphane Grappelli, and active in one form or another until 1948....
.
After the outbreak of the war in Europe in 1939, Grade became involved in arranging troops entertainment in Harrogate, which were popular, and subsequently after he joined the Army. He was invalided out of the forces after two years when an old problem with water on the knees, which had earlier ended his dancing career, reoccurred.
In 1945, Grade went into partnership with his brother Leslie (the arrangement with Joe Collins had by now been terminated) and spent some of his time in the United States where the brothers developed their interests. His connections led to Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
and Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
, among others, appearing in Britain for the first time.
Television interests
In August 1954 Grade was contacted by Mike Nidorf, the manager of singer Jo StaffordJo Stafford
Jo Elizabeth Stafford was an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards and occasional actress whose career ran from the late 1930s to the early 1960s...
, who notified him of an advertisement in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
inviting franchise bids for the new ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
network. Assembling a consortium, including impresarios Val Parnell
Val Parnell
Valentine Charles Parnell , known as Val Parnell, was a British television producer and theatrical impresario.-Life and career:...
and Prince Littler
Prince Littler
Prince Frank Littler CBE was an influential British theatre impresario. He was also one of the major investors and a company director of Associated TeleVision, the second ITV network contractor to begin broadcasting in 1955.His brother Emile and sister Blanche were also major figures in the theatre...
, the Incorporated Television Programme Company (ITP), soon changing its name to Independent Television Company
ITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
was formed. Their bid to the Independent Television Authority
Independent Television Authority
The Independent Television Authority was an agency created by the Television Act 1954 to supervise the creation of "Independent Television" , the first commercial television network in the United Kingdom...
(ITA) was rejected owing to the conflict of interest from their involvement in artist management and prominent status. The Associated Broadcasting Development Company gained ITA approval for both the London (weekend) and Midlands (weekday) contracts, but was undercapitalised, and Grade's consortium joined with them to form what became Associated TeleVision
Associated TeleVision
Associated Television, often referred to as ATV, was a British television company, holder of various licences to broadcast on the ITV network from 24 September 1955 until 00:34 on 1 January 1982...
.
Grade was deputy managing director of ATV under Val Parnell
Val Parnell
Valentine Charles Parnell , known as Val Parnell, was a British television producer and theatrical impresario.-Life and career:...
until 1962, but it was Grade who was responsible for committing the finance for what would become the companies' first success with an international audience: The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955-1960), commissioned by an American producer, Hannah Weinstein
Hannah Weinstein
Hannah Weinstein was an American journalist, publicist and left-wing political activist who moved to Britain and became a television producer. She is best known for having produced The Adventures of Robin Hood television series in the 1950s...
, who was based in Britain.
The ITC
ITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
production company, a wholly owned ATV subsidiary from 1957, became known for many internationally successful TV series. Howard Thomas
Howard Thomas
Howard Thomas CBE was a Welsh-born British radio producer and television executive.-Early career:Thomas began his career typing invoices for a firm of wire-drawers in Manchester. While doing that job, he taught himself to write newspaper articles and short plays...
, managing director of ABC
Associated British Corporation
Associated British Corporation was one of a number of commercial television companies established in the United Kingdom during the 1950s by cinema chain companies in an attempt to safeguard their business by becoming involved with television which was taking away their cinema audiences.In this...
, another ITV contractor, was soon complaining that Grade made television programmes for Birmingham, Alabama rather than Birmingham, England.
These programmes included The Saint
The Saint (TV series)
The Saint was an ITC mystery spy thriller television series that aired in the UK on ITV between 1962 and 1969. It centred on the Leslie Charteris literary character, Simon Templar, a Robin Hood-like adventurer with a penchant for disguise. The character may be nicknamed The Saint because the...
(starring Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
several years before his period as James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
), and two series which involved Patrick McGoohan
Patrick McGoohan
Patrick Joseph McGoohan was an American-born actor, raised in Ireland and England, with an extensive stage and film career, most notably in the 1960s television series Danger Man , and The Prisoner, which he co-created...
: Danger Man
Danger Man
Danger Man is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the program and wrote many of the scripts...
(also known as Secret Agent in the US) and The Prisoner
The Prisoner
The Prisoner is a 17-episode British television series first broadcast in the UK from 29 September 1967 to 1 February 1968. Starring and co-created by Patrick McGoohan, it combined spy fiction with elements of science fiction, allegory and psychological drama.The series follows a British former...
.
In 1962 the production house AP Films
AP Films
AP Films or APF, later becoming Century 21 Productions, was a British independent film production company of the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s...
became an ITC subsidiary. AP Films, co-founded by Gerry Anderson
Gerry Anderson
Gerry Anderson MBE is a British publisher, producer, director and writer, famous for his futuristic television programmes, particularly those involving specially modified marionettes, a process called "Supermarionation"....
, which produced a string of popular children's marionette adventure series including Supercar
Supercar (TV series)
Supercar was a children's TV show produced by Gerry Anderson and Arthur Provis's AP Films for ATV and ITC Entertainment. 39 episodes were produced between 1961 and 1962, and it was Anderson's first half-hour series. In the UK it was seen on ITV and in the US in syndication...
, Fireball XL5, Stingray
Stingray (TV series)
Stingray is a children's marionette television show, created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and produced by AP Films for ATV and ITC Entertainment from 1964–65. Its 39 half-hour episodes were originally screened on ITV in the UK and in syndication in the USA. The scriptwriters included Gerry and...
, Thunderbirds
Thunderbirds (TV series)
Thunderbirds is a British mid-1960s science fiction television show devised by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and made by AP Films using a form of marionette puppetry dubbed "Supermarionation"...
, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, often referred to as Captain Scarlet, is a 1960s British science-fiction television series produced by the Century 21 Productions company of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, John Read and Reg Hill...
, Joe 90
Joe 90
Joe 90 is a late-1960s British science-fiction television series documenting the exploits of a nine-year-old boy, Joe McClaine, who embarks on a double life as a schoolboy turned spy when his scientist father invents a pioneering machine capable of duplicating and transferring expert knowledge and...
, three feature films, and the live-action sci-fi series UFO
UFO (TV series)
UFO is a 1970-1971 British television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth, created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson with Reg Hill, and produced by the Andersons and Lew Grade's Century 21 Productions for Grade's ITC Entertainment company.UFO first aired in the UK and Canada...
and Space: 1999
Space: 1999
Space: 1999 is a British science-fiction television series that ran for two seasons and originally aired from 1975 to 1977. In the opening episode, nuclear waste from Earth stored on the Moon's far side explodes in a catastrophic accident on 13 September 1999, knocking the Moon out of orbit and...
. Although supportive of the produced shows, especially concerning Thunderbirds which he insisted on having the episodes be produced as an hour-long one on account of being so pleased by the premiere "Trapped in the Sky
Trapped in the Sky
"Trapped in the Sky" is the first episode of Thunderbirds, a British 1960s Supermarionation television series co-created by Gerry Anderson, which originally aired on ATV Midlands on 30 September 1965. The plot revolves around master criminal the Hood, who sabotages the brand-new Fireflash prior to...
", the consistent drive for success at home and abroad led to various artistic differences for Grade with McGoohan and Anderson, leading to a split with both.
The companies were reorganised again in 1966, under the Associated Communications Corporation umbrella. ATV lost its London franchise to what became London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
in 1967, but at the same time the Midlands franchise was extended to the whole week. The new arrangement came into force from July 1968. Foreign sales remained buoyant, they were worth $30 million in 1970 and Grade's company received the Queen's Awards for Export
Queen's Awards for Enterprise
The Queen's Awards for Enterprise is an awards programme for British businesses and other organizations who excel at international trade, innovation or sustainable development. They are the highest official UK awards for British businesses...
in 1967 and 1969. In the early 1970s though, a number of ITC series were flops including UFO
UFO (TV series)
UFO is a 1970-1971 British television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth, created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson with Reg Hill, and produced by the Andersons and Lew Grade's Century 21 Productions for Grade's ITC Entertainment company.UFO first aired in the UK and Canada...
(1970–71); The Persuaders!
The Persuaders!
The Persuaders! is a 1971 action/adventure series, produced by ITC Entertainment for initial broadcast on ITV and ABC. It has been called "the last major entry in the cycle of adventure series that had begun eleven years earlier with Danger Man in 1960", as well as "the most ambitious and most...
(1971–72), (its second series to star Roger Moore); and Grade's ultimate coup, The Julie Andrews Hour
The Julie Andrews Hour
The Julie Andrews Hour is a television variety series starring Julie Andrews that was produced by ATV and distributed by ITC Entertainment. It aired on the ABC network in the United States....
(1972–1973), which lasted only one season on the ABC Television Network, and yet received excellent reviews and was awarded seven Emmy Awards including Best Variety Series.
Northern Songs purchase
Grade's path crossed with the BeatlesThe Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
in 1969. Grade and ATV Music Publishing
Sony/ATV Music Publishing
Sony/ATV Music Publishing is a music publishing company co-owned by The Michael Jackson Family Trust and Sony. The organisation was originally founded as Associated TeleVision in 1955 by Lew Grade. In 1957, ATV acquired Pye Records as a wholly owned subsidiary...
bought a majority share in Northern Songs
Northern Songs
Northern Songs was a company founded in 1963, by music publisher Dick James, Brian Epstein, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, to publish songs written by Lennon and McCartney , as well as songs written by George Harrison and Ringo Starr, who were all members of The Beatles...
, the company established by Brian Epstein
Brian Epstein
Brian Samuel Epstein , was an English music entrepreneur, and is best known for being the manager of The Beatles up until his death. He also managed several other musical artists such as Gerry & the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Cilla Black, The Remo Four & The Cyrkle...
which owned nearly all of the Beatles' catalogue. After a fierce battle, Grade and ATV won control of the company while controlling any other songs written by Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
and John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
between 1964 and 1971. (George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
and Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
broke from Northern Songs prior to Grade's acquisition.) ATV would retain control of Northern Songs until 1985, when the company sold the songs to Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
.
The Muppets
In the mid-1970s, Grade approached American puppeteer Jim HensonJim Henson
James Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for...
, who was in need of assistance for a new television program. Henson wanted to create a new TV variety show starring his Muppet characters in the United States, but had been dismissed by the American networks for merely being part of children's shows like Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
. CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
almost agreed to holding the show, but only if it aired during a syndicated block
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
of its programming and if it were produced by someone else. After watching one of Henson's pilots and recalling a special made in one of his studios, Grade decided to let Henson create his show in England and distribute it through ATV (in the United Kingdom to the ITV network) and ITC (for the United States and worldwide distribution). Grade's action was instrumental in bringing The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...
to the screen in 1976 and led to its wide success on both sides of the Atlantic and around the world. Henson chose to immortalize the great producer through the character Lew Lord (played by Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
) in The Muppet Movie
The Muppet Movie
The Muppet Movie is the first of a series of live-action musical feature films starring Jim Henson's Muppets. Released in 1979, the film was produced by Henson Associates, Children's Television Workshop and ITC Entertainment....
. There was also speculation for a time that Muppet Dr. Bunsen Honeydew was also a caricature of Grade, though this was denied (with a hint of regret) by Henson in a 1982 interview.
Jesus of Nazareth
His other successes as a producer included the award-winning Jesus of NazarethJesus of Nazareth (film)
Jesus of Nazareth is a 1977 Anglo-Italian television mini-series dramatising the birth, life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus based on the accounts in the four New Testament Gospels....
(1977), starring Robert Powell
Robert Powell
Robert Powell is an English television and film actor, probably most famous for his title role in Jesus of Nazareth and as the fictional secret agent Richard Hannay...
. Grade had unique success in selling to the American market. The mini-series secured a record breaking $12m. He also promoted extravagant 'quality' productions on ATV to prove its equal to BBC TV, for instance giving over a whole evening schedule to a live broadcast of Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
from La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
starring Maria Callas
Maria Callas
Maria Callas was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century. She combined an impressive bel canto technique, a wide-ranging voice and great dramatic gifts...
.
Major films
In 1975, Grade and ITC released the film The Return of the Pink PantherThe Return of the Pink Panther
The Return of the Pink Panther is the fourth film in the Pink Panther series, released in 1975. The film stars Peter Sellers in the role of Inspector Clouseau in his third Panther appearance, after the original The Pink Panther and A Shot in the Dark.Herbert Lom also reprises his role as Chief...
into theaters with assistance of United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
and with director Blake Edwards
Blake Edwards
Blake Edwards was an American film director, screenwriter and producer.Edwards' career began in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon turned to writing radio scripts at Columbia Pictures...
and Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers
Richard Henry Sellers, CBE , known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor. Perhaps best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, he is also notable for playing three different characters in Dr...
in his role of Inspector Clouseau
Inspector Clouseau
Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau is a fictional character in Blake Edwards' The Pink Panther series. In most of the films, he was played by Peter Sellers, with one film in which he was played by Alan Arkin and one in which he was played by an uncredited Roger Moore...
. Originally conceived as a TV series, Grade saw the potential of reviving the Pink Panther film franchise by turning it into a motion picture. Although there was tremendous controversy with Grade turning the project into a movie, a compromise was eventually made where United Artists would distribute the film in the United States while ITC would distribute for the rest of the world. When the Pink Panther film was a huge hit, it not only revived the franchise (which UA would resume on its own), but also made Grade move into films, hoping to have the same success as he had in television. While having notable films and modest successes in this period, the biggest success would come through 1979's The Muppet Movie
The Muppet Movie
The Muppet Movie is the first of a series of live-action musical feature films starring Jim Henson's Muppets. Released in 1979, the film was produced by Henson Associates, Children's Television Workshop and ITC Entertainment....
, partially tied to his successful deal with Jim Henson and the popularity of The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...
. Keeping his ideas about class alongside showmanship, Grade would also become the producer of Ingmar Bergman
Ingmar Bergman
Ernst Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish director, writer and producer for film, stage and television. Described by Woody Allen as "probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera", he is recognized as one of the most accomplished and...
films Autumn Sonata
Autumn Sonata
Autumn Sonata is a 1978 Swedish drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. The film stars Ingrid Bergman, Liv Ullmann and Lena Nyman. It tells the story of a celebrated classical pianist who is confronted by her neglected daughter...
and From the Life of the Marionettes
From the Life of the Marionettes
Aus dem Leben der Marionetten is a 1980 film directed by Ingmar Bergman. The film was produced in West Germany with a German language screenplay and soundtrack while Bergman was in "tax exile" from his native Sweden. It is filmed in black and white apart from two colour sequences at the beginning...
. Other notable films of the period include other co-releases such as The Boys From Brazil
The Boys from Brazil
The Boys from Brazil may refer to:*The Boys from Brazil , a 1976 novel by Ira Levin*The Boys from Brazil , a 1978 film based on the novel, starring Gregory Peck, Laurence Olivier and James Mason...
with 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
starring Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
and Gregory Peck
Gregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won an...
and Stanley Donen's
Stanley Donen
Stanley Donen ; is an American film director and choreographer whose most celebrated works are Singin' in the Rain and On the Town, both of which he co-directed with Gene Kelly. His other noteworthy films include Royal Wedding, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Funny Face, Indiscreet, Damn...
Movie Movie
Movie Movie
Movie Movie is a 1978 musical comedy film directed by Stanley Donen. Movie Movie consists of two short films, both starring the husband-and-wife team of George C. Scott and Trish Van Devere, with a fake movie trailer sandwiched in between them...
with Warner Brothers.
In 1980, Grade backed an expensive 'all-star' film version of Clive Cussler
Clive Cussler
Clive Eric Cussler is an American adventure novelist and marine archaeologist. His thriller novels, many featuring the character Dirk Pitt, have reached The New York Times fiction best-seller list more than seventeen times...
's best-seller Raise the Titanic; Grade himself remarked that "It would have been cheaper to lower the Atlantic". Released the same year as The Empire Strikes Back, the middle of the original Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
trilogy, RTT flopped as audience tastes had changed. This and other expensive duds—including Saturn 3
Saturn 3
Saturn 3 is a 1980 science fiction film starring Kirk Douglas, Farrah Fawcett and Harvey Keitel. Direction is credited to Stanley Donen. The project was conceived by John Barry. Barry was due to direct until a dispute with Douglas led to his replacement...
(also 1980) and The Legend of the Lone Ranger
The Legend of the Lone Ranger
The Legend of the Lone Ranger is a 1981 British-American western film directed by William A. Fraker and starring Klinton Spilsbury, Michael Horse and Christopher Lloyd....
(released the following year)--marked the end of Grade's involvement with major motion picture production. Amazingly, several of the most critically acclaimed films produced by Grade would come out after the disaster of Raise the Titanic: the Academy Award-winning films On Golden Pond
On Golden Pond (1981 film)
On Golden Pond is a 1981 American drama film directed by Mark Rydell. The screenplay by Ernest Thompson was adapted from his 1979 play of the same title. Henry Fonda won the Academy Award in what was his final film role. Co-star Katharine Hepburn also received an Oscar, as did Thompson for his...
and Sophie's Choice
Sophie's Choice (film)
Sophie's Choice is a 1982 American romantic drama film that tells the story of a Polish immigrant, Sophie, and her tempestuous lover who share a boarding house with a young writer in Brooklyn. The film stars Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, and Peter MacNicol. Alan J...
, as well as cult classic The Dark Crystal
The Dark Crystal
The Dark Crystal is a 1982 British-American fantasy film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. Although marketed as a family film, it was notably darker than previous material created by them. The animatronics used in the film were considered groundbreaking. The primary concept artist was the...
, which was the final project Jim Henson
Jim Henson
James Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for...
created in association with Grade and ITC.
After ITC and beyond
In 1980, three events would end up diminishing Grade's star in the production and entertainment world: Jim HensonJim Henson
James Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for...
's decision to end The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...
after a successful five year run, the bombing of Raise the Titanic, and a decision during the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
determination for the Midlands region effective 1 January 1982 that ATV
Associated TeleVision
Associated Television, often referred to as ATV, was a British television company, holder of various licences to broadcast on the ITV network from 24 September 1955 until 00:34 on 1 January 1982...
could keep their license under the condition that they remove their connection with Grade and ITC Entertainment (eventually leading to their rebrand as Central Television). He eventually stepped down from the company that he had led since the 1950s as it was put through a series of partnerships and mergers. Grade eventually was brought in by Norman Lear
Norman Lear
Norman Milton Lear is an American television writer and producer who produced such 1970s sitcoms as All in the Family, Sanford and Son, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, Good Times and Maude...
to head the film unit of Embassy Pictures
Embassy Pictures
Embassy Pictures Corporation was an independent studio and distributor responsible for such films as The Graduate, The Lion in Winter, This Is Spinal Tap and Escape from New York.-Founding:The company was founded in 1942 by producer Joseph E...
but was never as influential or successful as he was during his long history in British television and film (even though he sat through the distribution of important and influential films such as Blade Runner
Blade Runner
Blade Runner is a 1982 American science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young. The screenplay, written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, is loosely based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K...
and This Is Spinal Tap
This Is Spinal Tap
This Is Spinal Tap is an American 1984 rock musical mockumentary directed by Rob Reiner about the fictional heavy metal band Spinal Tap...
). He was also a producer of Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
's musical Starlight Express
Starlight Express
Starlight Express is a rock musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber , Richard Stilgoe and Arlene Phillips , with later revisions by Don Black and David Yazbek . The story follows a child's dream in which his toy train set comes to life; famously the actors perform wearing roller skates...
.
By the mid-1990s, Grade once again returned to ITC, to head the company that he had created for one last time until his death.
Honours
He was made a life peerLife peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
as Baron Grade, of Elstree
Elstree
Elstree is a village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire on the A5 road, about 10 miles north of London. In 2001, its population was 4,765, and forms part of the civil parish of Elstree and Borehamwood, originally known simply as Elstree....
in the County of Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
in 1976, having been knighted
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
in 1969. He chose Elstree as his territorial designation
Territorial designation
A territorial designation follows modern peerage titles, linking them to a specific place or places. It is also an integral part of all baronetcies...
not after the famous Elstree Studios
Elstree Studios
"Elstree Studios" refers to any of several film studios that were based in the towns of Borehamwood and Elstree in Hertfordshire, England, since film production begun in 1927.-Name:...
, known at one time as "Britain's Hollywood", but because ATV's studios were also located there.
Centenary
Lew Grade would have been 100 years old on Christmas Day 2006. To celebrate his life, BBC Radio 2 produced two one-hour shows which were transmitted at 10pm on 24 and 25 December. The shows were hosted by Sir Roger MooreRoger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
and featured interviews with Lady Grade, Lew's niece Anita Land and nephew Michael Grade
Michael Grade
Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth CBE is a British broadcast executive and businessman. He was BBC chairman from 2004 to 2006 and executive chairman of ITV plc from 2007 to 2009.-Early life:...
CBE (now Lord Grade of Yarmouth) (both the children of Leslie Grade), and nephew Ian Freeman, the son of his sister, Rita, plus a host of stars.
Cultural References
During a montage in "The Cycling Tour" episode of Monty Python's Flying CircusMonty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC TV sketch comedy series. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines...
which depicted a series of Soviet cities like "Leningrad" and "Stalingrad," the name "Lew Grade" crops up.
Quotes
- Commenting on his expensive flop, Raise the TitanicRaise The Titanic (film)Raise the Titanic is a 1980 American big budget adventure film by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment, directed by Jerry Jameson and written by Eric Hughes and Adam Kennedy . The film stars Jason Robards, Richard Jordan, David Selby, Anne Archer, and Alec Guinness. The film's tagline was "Once they said...
: "It would have been cheaper to lower the Atlantic."
- "Marriage was the best business deal I ever made. After that, Jesus of Nazareth and The Muppets."
- From Sir Roger Moore - "Anyone who is 88 and can still jump up on the table and do The Charleston...that speaks volumes!"
- "All my shows are great. Some of them are bad, but they are all great."
- "Only twelve disciples? Didn't I tell you I want this thing to be big, big, big!" (To Franco Zefirelli, on the set of 'Jesus of Nazareth')
- "I have a very good sense of what audiences want and expect from movies and television. That's because I'm one of them."
- At age 11, when asked the answer to 'What is two plus two': "Are you buying or selling ?"