THE
UNMUTUAL WEBSITE - VILLAGE PEOPLE
CAST & CREW PROFILES
LEW GRADE - MEDIA MOGUL (HEAD OF ATV/ITC). Profile by David Healey.
"IT'S
SO CRAZY, IT JUST MIGHT WORK!" was reportedly Lew Grade's response to McGoohan's
proposal for "The Prisoner" TV series following the star's resignation
from his previous role as John Drake in ITC's "Danger Man". This remark
was typical of the great man's style - he had become known for many such statements,
perhaps the most famous being that, following the failure of the £15m
epic "Raise The Titanic", he proclaimed "it would have been cheaper
to lower the Atlantic!". Whether he actually uttered all of these witty
one-liners spontaneously is really irrelevant, he was an astute business man
and recognised the value of publicity and was more than willing to incorporate
them into his legend even if one or two were self depreciatory. They were good
PR and the press and public loved him for it.
When McGoohan walked into his office with a file detailing the concept of "The
Prisoner" the paperwork was brushed aside - not for him the minutiae of
a project, he operated on gut feelings and would make a financial commitment
based on a brief overview sold with panache. McGoohan's passion for this production
would have been enough and Grade would have utilised this enthusiasm to sell
the proposed series to the all important American market. To Lew the finer points
were unimportant, a good basic idea, a star and a market were his only criteria.
It was not his way, or indeed his role, to ponder the artistic merit or allegorical
sub-texts; he was a facilitator and a salesman without equal and for this he
received well deserved accolades - the Queen's Award for Industry in 1967, a
Knighthood two years later for his export achievements and Life Peerage in Harold
Wilson's Resignation Honours list. He was a man of instinct, which was seldom
found lacking, and this, along with a flare for figures and a confidence in
his own abilities as a raconteur, equipped him to stride the world stage with
ease. His astonishing drive and self beliefmade him arguably Britain's greatest
show business mogul.
With a customary handshake he bankrolled "The Prisoner" giving Everyman
Films carte blanche to create a cult television classic. His word was always
his bond and he would feign insult if a signature was requested. He grew up
in more honourable times and did not feel the need for the safety net of accountants
and contracts.
"The Prisoner" series was pre-sold to the giant CBS network in the
United States based on Patrick McGoohan's star status and enigmatic photographs
of the Portmeirion location. After production of four or five episodes Michael
Dann, Vice President in Charge of Programming at CBS, dropped in to view his
acquisition and declared "I really can't understand what it's all about."
Grade side-stepped his confusion by arranging a meeting with McGoohan and the
following day Dann returned still bemused and furthermore astonished that Lew
could do business with the actor. His reply was again typical and not without
a wry sense of humour: "I have no problems with him - he's easy to get
along with - I just agree to all his requests!"
It is generally believed that Lew Grade pulled the financial plug on the series
as apparent chaos reigned towards the end of what may have originally been the
conclusion of a first series. Mountains of unedited footage were piling up as
four editing teams battled to compile the scenes filmed in Portmeirion and MGM,
Borehamwood and a paucity of usable scripts for future episodes was causing
concern. Costs were enormous and he made what was of course the correct business
decision. A four episode finale to the series would close a worrying fiscal
wound and unwittingly endow The Prisoner with a cult status which few other
television programmes genuinely merit.
Born on Christmas Day 1906 in the Ukrainian town of Tokmak, the eldest of three
sons, Louis Winogradsky moved with his family to London's East End at the age
of six. On leaving school, where he demonstrated a great aptitude for figures,
he managed a small cinema but soon followed his father into the rag trade. The
twenties arrived and with it the Charleston dance craze. In spite of his apparently
ungainly build, as Louis Grad, he became an accomplished, award winning dancer
before recurrent knee injuries prompted his move into entertainment agency management.
He excelled in this field, bringing acts from the continent and, as war approached
he met his future wife singer Kathie Moody. They married in 1942 and Lew served
in the Royal Signals
Corps before being invalided out again because of his knees. After the war he
split from his then partner Joe Collins and set up his own agency with brother
Leslie. He set up offices in New York and California and introduced many American
stars, including Jack Benny, Johnnie Ray and Dorothy Lamour to our shores. By
the early 1950s he was head of the largest agency in the country.
New challenges soon followed in the wake of the arrival of commercial television.
He invested in the ATV franchise and, after a shaky start, the company flourished.
He moved in full time, succeeding Val Pamell at the helm in 1962 to become the
single most influential figure in the business. He always viewed himself as
an average person and as such ideally placed to gauge the tastes of the public.
Priding himself on a sound moral background he produced an enormous volume of
ground-breaking family entertainment in this fledgling media. In the early days
he introduced period dramas such as "The Adventures Of Robin Hood",
"The Buccaneers" and "Sir Francis Drake", soap operas such
as "Emergency Ward 10" and variety including the long-running "Sunday
Night At The London Palladium". His production company ITC went on to create
a mammoth library with perennial favourites such as "The Champions",
"Department S", "Jason King", "Man In A Suitcase",
"Randall And Hopkirk (Deceased)", and "The Baron" still
selling around the world to this day. He also helped finance the unique catalogue
of puppet and live action series from the Gerry Anderson stable. "All my
shows are great," he would exclaim, "some of them are bad, but they
are all great."
In the mid seventies an expensive biblical epic "Moses - The Lawgiver"
was produced and following an audience with the Pope Lew Grade went on to tackle
"Jesus Of Nazareth". Starring, the then unknown, Robert Powell this
became an enormous international success and he was rewarded not only financially
but with the Vatican honour of the Order of Knight Commander of Saint Silvester.
Grade used to tell the story of a vision he had when flying to the United States
to sell the series. The figure of 25 popped into his head and realising that
this could not mean $25,000 dollars he assumed it must mean $25m. He chanced
his arm at this figure and got it which helped bring in a sizeable profit for
this costly production. The apocryphal stories surrounding this production included
the occasion when he was asked to name the twelve disciples - struggling after
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John he added that "I haven't finished reading
the script yet!" He is also credited as suggesting that budget savings
could be made by reducing the number of disciples to six!
On his 70th birthday in 1977 he had to retire as chairman of ATV but, not one
to rest on his laurels, he steered his holding company ACC into film production.
Movies such as "The Cassandra Crossing", "Capricorn One",
"The Boys From Brazil", "The Eagle Has Landed", "The
Muppet Movie" and two "Pink Panther" outings followed before
the huge flop "Raise The Titanic" sent shock waves through the company.
Lew Grade was eased out of ACC by the actions of Australian financier Robert
Holmes and his account of this in his autobiography "Still Dancing",
which was published in 1987, makes for depressing reading. It is the story
of a gentleman being gulled by a misplaced trust. Rather unpalatable events,
which required Lew to not only break his word to a business associate but also
stand accused of taking `kickbacks' (a charge which was dropped on the eve of
a his appearance in court as a witness), led to his departure in 1982 to take
control of the London arm of the American Embassy Communications group. He was
subsequently distressed to learn that his successor at ACC had reneged on a
promise to ensure that his credits on two films set up prior to these developments
would stand. These productions "On Golden Pond" and "Sophie 's
Choice" both earned Oscars for their stars, Henry Fonda and Meryl Streep
respectively.
In 1985 he established his own film and television company buying up a huge
option on the romantic novels of Barbara Cartland which he began to film. When
ITC was acquired by PolyGram in 1995 he returned to the company he had begun
forty years previously as Chairman for Life. Lew Grade will be remembered as
a true giant of the entertainment industry, a man of immense character and integrity,
and an entrepreneur whose energy and enthusiasm for work never faltered. He
never threw in the towel, arriving at his office each day at the crack of dawn
to put in lengthy twelve hour day and joked "I used to say I would retire
in 2001, but I already know it won't happen." Although his long and distinguished
career gave him a great deal of financial security, money was never his goal
- "Wealth is about relationships, not money," he maintained. He was
genuine and genial, striking an impressive pose with his huge, trademark, Havana
cigars as he negotiated deals with the most powerful men in the industry world-wide.
He abhorred gratuitous sex and violence and would take a red pen to swearing
appearing in scripts that crossed his desk. Sound family values were always
important to him and his marriage was another major triumph, surviving in an
environment not noted for its matrimonial stability. The Grades celebrated their
golden anniversary on 23rd June 1992 with a special party at the House of Lords.
Although they had no children of their own they adopted a boy Paul.
He died on Sunday, 13th December 1998 of heart failure at the London Clinic,
two weeks after surgery, with his close family present. His own choice of epitaph
was "I didn't want to go. And I'm not going!" This flippant remark
is perhaps more accurate than he intended-although he is no longer with us his
massive contribution to the entertainment industry will live on forever.