Bernard Delfont, Baron Delfont

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Bernard Delfont Kt (birth name: Boris Winogradsky * 5. September 1909 in Velyky Tokmak , Russian Empire ; † 28. July 1994 in London ) was a from today's Ukraine originating British entrepreneurs , film and theater producer who between 1969 and was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of EMI Film and Theater in 1980 and became a member of the House of Lords in 1976 as Life Peer under the Life Peerages Act 1958 .

Life

Origin and artistic career

Delfont, who was born Boris Winogradsky in what is now Ukraine, emigrated to Great Britain in 1912 with his parents and two older brothers, Louis and Lazarus , who later also worked in the entertainment industry , where they settled in London's East End . After leaving school at the age of twelve, he performed in London's Music Halls with his brother Louis - who had made a name for himself as a Charleston dancer under the stage name Lew Grade .

In the late 1920s, he performed a dance number for the marketing of mechanical television developed by John Logie Baird and thus came into contact with the entertainment industry for the first time. At this time, to avoid confusion with his older brother, he changed his name to Delfont and formed a duo with comedian Hal Monty , who performed under the name The Delfont Boys . In 1937 he last appeared as a dancer in the Chiswick Empire and then followed his brother Lew as an artist agent and impresario .

Theater manager

In the post-war era, Delfont presented numerous shows with well-known stars at the London Casino, now the Prince Edward Theater

Delfont began working as a theater manager in 1949 and over time has acquired a number of theaters in London's West End . As the owner of the London Casino , he presented entertainment shows with stars such as Lena Horne , The Ink Spots or Laurel and Hardy . He later worked with the Impresario Val Parnell , and due to its commercial success was able to rent the Prince of Wales Theater and perform many of its shows at the London Palladium .

Delfont's second experience with television was on June 24, 1950, when he staged the summer variety show on the BBC's television program . The show, broadcast under the name Carefree , was produced by Richard Afton and accompanied musically by Eric Robinson and his orchestra.

Royal Variety Performance and other television productions

A few months after the founding of the independent television station Independent Television (ITV) appeared there between 1956 and 1958 under the name Bernard Delfont Presents Show in Saturday evening programs, which were produced by Lew Grades television station Associated TeleVision (ATV). This was soon followed by the music and dance show Young and Foolish , which Val Parnell and Delfont produced for ITV in 1956. 1959 started the Bernard Delfont's Sunday Show , which was broadcast on ITV until 1962 and was intended as a supplement to the Parnell's Sunday Night listed in the London Palladium . The artists on that program included singers like Adam Faith and Tommy Steele , but also a group of Bengal tigers presented by Chipperfield's Circus .

On May 22, 1960, Delfont's Royal Variety Performance for ITV was first produced for television. Previously, this show, which he had staged for the first time in 1912 and since 1958, was not broadcast on television, as the number of visitors to the classic variety theaters would fall. The two and a half hour show, directed by Jack Hylton , featured comedians Harry Worth , Charlie Drake and Benny Hill , pop singers Cliff Richard and Adam Faith and actor Robert Horton, and more than 60 other entertainers.

Maurice Chevalier , Jack Benny , George Burns and Sammy Davis Jr. as well as numerous other international artists participated in the second Royal Variety Performance , broadcast on November 12, 1961 on ITV and produced by Delfont . In the following years the production of the Royal Variety Performance switched between the BBC and ITV and each became one of the most important highlights on television.

Delfont was also instrumental in the first television series of the two comedians Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise , which aired between 1961 and 1968 as The Morecambe and Wise Show on ITV and was written mostly by Sid Green and Dick Hills .

EMI Chairman and House of Lords

In the 1960s he became the UK's leading theater impresario, while his brother Lew Grade was one of the most powerful figures on British television and his brother Leslie Grade ran the country's largest artist agency, making the three brothers the greatest influence on British show business at the time .

In 1969 he took over the role of Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of EMI Film and Theater, which he held until 1980.

Delfont, who was married to the stage actress Carole Lynne and was beaten to a Knight Bachelor degree on April 5, 1974 and has since had the suffix "Sir", was named in particular for his services to the Attlee Memorial Foundation by a letters patent dated June 29, 1976 Life Peer with the title Baron Delfont , of Stepney in Greater London, was raised to the nobility and was a member of the House of Lords until his death.

He also served as Chairman and CEO of THF Leisure between 1981 and 1982 and then as Chairman and CEO of First Leisure Corporation from 1983 to 1992. He was also President of the Variety Club of Great Britain, Life President of the Enternment Artists Benevolent Fund, and most recently President of the Entertainment Charities Fund between 1983 and 1991.

literature

  • East End, West End , Biography, 1990

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ London Gazette . No. 46366, HMSO, London, October 8, 1974, p. 8536 ( PDF , accessed November 21, 2013, English).
  2. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 46916, HMSO, London, June 1, 1976, p. 7823 ( PDF , accessed November 21, 2013, English).
  3. ↑ London Gazette . No. 46950, HMSO, London, July 1, 1976, p. 9072 ( PDF , accessed November 21, 2013, English).
personal data
SURNAME Delfont, Bernard, Baron Delfont
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Delfont, Bernard, Baron Delfont (full name); Winogradsky, Boris (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British theater and television producer
DATE OF BIRTH September 5, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Velykyj Tokmak , Russian Empire
DATE OF DEATH July 28, 1994
Place of death London