Everything about Jeremy Isaacs totally explained
Sir Jeremy Isaacs (born
28 September 1932) is a
British television producer and executive, winner of many
BAFTA awards and international
Emmy Awards. He was also General Director of the
Royal Opera House,
Covent Garden (1987-96).
Early life
He was born in
Glasgow, the son of a jeweller and a
GP and grew up in
Hillhead. He was educated at the independent
Glasgow Academy and
Merton College,
Oxford. He did his National Service in the
Highland Light Infantry.
Television career
Isaacs began a long career in television in 1958 by joining
Granada Television as a producer. At Granada he was involved in creating acclaimed and long running series
World in Action and
What the Papers Say. He has worked for the
BBC (on
Panorama)) in the 1960s and was the overall producer for the acclaimed 26-episode series
The World at War for
Thames Television in 1973. He was Director of Programmes for Thames between 1974 and 1978. He then produced (1981) for the BBC.
Channel 4
Isaacs was the founding chief executive of
Channel 4 between 1981 and
1987, overseeing its crucial launch period and setting the channel's distinctive style. At that time, the channel was much more serious in tone and dedicated to minority cultural tastes than it's now, though such programmes as
The Tube had a place on the network from the start. The channel commissioned
Michael Elliott's production of
King Lear with
Laurence Olivier in the title role and Isaacs re-commissioned a number of programmes from his time at Granada including
What the Papers Say. Despite a general liberal atmosphere, a few commissioned programmes such as
Ken Loach's
A Question of Leadership were blocked from being screened.
When handing over responsibility for running the channel to
Michael Grade, Isaacs threatened to throttle him if he betrayed the trust placed in him to respect the channel's remit.
Royal Opera House
After leaving Channel 4, and failing to be appointed Director General of the BBC in 1987, Isaacs became General Director of the
Royal Opera House,
Covent Garden, a role he fulfilled until
1996. This was a difficult period for the ROH, which wasn't helped by the broadcast of the revealing
The House (1996) documentary series on BBC2.
Ted Turner sought out Isaacs (confusing him with the actor
Jeremy Irons) for the role of executive producer for his
1998 24-episode
Cold War series.
Between 1997 and 2000 Isaacs was president of the
Royal Television Society. He is currently chairman of
Sky Arts.
From 1990 to 1998 Isaacs acted as interviewer in a revival of the BBC series
Face to Face;
John Freeman had filled this role in the original 1959-62 run.
Publications
- Never Mind the Moon, Bantam Press, 1999 ISBN 0593043553
- Look Me in the Eye: A Life in Television, Little, Brown, 2006 ISBN 0316727288
Further Information
Get more info on 'Jeremy Isaacs'.
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