Lew grade

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Lev Grade, Baron Grade (actually: Louis Winogradsky ; born December 25, 1906 in Tokmak , Zaporizhia Oblast , Ukraine ; † December 13, 1998 in London , England ) was a British film producer of Ukrainian origin.

biography

Louis Winogradsky was born as the eldest of three sons of the Jewish couple Olga and Isaac Winogradsky in the Ukraine, the former Russian Empire . While his brother Bernard was born in the Ukraine in 1909, his youngest brother Leslie was born in England. Then emigrated the family in 1912, where Isaac in the East End of London, leading a cinema took over. The family was granted British citizenship.

At the age of 15 he began to work as an employee in a tailor 's shop; however, theater and film were his true passions. Winogradsky entered a Charleston competition at the Royal Albert Hall in 1926 and won. Now he took his pseudonym Lew Grade and started his way in show business as a professional dancer.

Grade, his brother Leslie (1916–1979) and their partner Joe Collins (father of actress Joan Collins ) founded an agency in 1933 that was to become the largest in England. Stars like Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier were promoted through them. Grade's second brother, Bernard, also made his way and became head of the EMI Group .

Lew Grade started his own film production company , ITC Entertainment , which merged with AP Films in 1962 . ITC produced a number of successful television series in the 1960s and 1970s including Department S , Jason King , The Man with the Suitcase , Secret Order for John Drake , Number Six , Moon Base Alpha 1, and UFO . With the television series Die 2 , Grade managed to win over American superstar Tony Curtis for one of the two leading roles in this production - the first and to date only time that a film star of this size took on a role in an English television production. Grade also helped Jim Henson and his Muppet Show to become better known in England.

Grade was the driving force behind private broadcaster ATV , which it wanted to see in direct competition with the BBC . ATV, concerned about high-class entertainment, 1,977 degree ITC Entertainment and its executive producers gave Vincenzo Labella commissioned to Jesus of Nazareth , the film, the grade most famously made because he could achieve success in the US market. On the other hand, the 1980-produced feature film Lifts the Titanic, based on a novel by American writer Clive Cussler, turned out to be Grad's biggest flop.

Privately, Grade was married to Kathleen Moody from 1942 until his death; the two adopted a son, Paul. In 1969, Grade was knighted and in 1976 was appointed Life Peer as Baron Grade of Elstree in Hertsmere . He died of heart failure at the age of 91 .

Filmography (selection)

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personal data
SURNAME Grade, Lev
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Winogradsky, Louis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British film producer of Ukrainian origin
DATE OF BIRTH December 25, 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH Tokmak , Zaporizhia Oblast , Ukraine
DATE OF DEATH December 13, 1998
Place of death London , England