Editing Lew Grade (section)

{{Short description|British media proprietor and impresario (1906–1998)}}
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{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name = The Lord Grade
| honorific_suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100|OStJ|KC*SS}}
| image = Lord Grade in 1997, artistic portrait by the Earl of Snowdon.jpg
| caption = 1997 [[Fine-art photography|artistic portrait]] by [[Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon|The Earl of Snowdon]].
| birth_name = Lev Winogradsky
| birth_place = [[Tokmak, Ukraine|Tokmak]], [[Taurida Governorate]], [[Russian Empire]]
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1906|12|25|df=yes}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1998|12|13|1906|12|25}}
| death_place = London, England 
| resting_place = [[Liberal Jewish Cemetery, Willesden]], London
| nationality = Russian (1906–1912)<br />British (1912–1998)
| other_names = {{Unbulleted list|item_style=padding: 0.1em 0; line-height: 1.3em|item1_style=white-space:nowrap|Louis Grad (as professional dancer)|"The Dancer with the Humorous Feet"}}
| education = Rochelle Street Elementary School
| occupation = {{hlist|[[Media proprietor]]|[[impresario]]|[[talent agent]]|[[dancer]]}}
| years_active = 1926–1998
| spouse = {{marriage|Kathleen Moody|1942}}<ref>{{Cite news |date=5 January 2022 |title=Lady Grade, teenage star who gave up a promising career to become the busy and steady presence behind her tycoon husband Lew – obituary |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2022/01/05/lady-grade-teenage-star-gave-promising-career-become-busy-steady/ |access-date=5 January 2022}}</ref>
| children = 1
| relatives = [[Bernard Delfont]] (brother)<br />[[Leslie Grade]] (brother)<br />[[Michael Grade]] (nephew)
}}

'''Lew Grade, Baron Grade''', {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100|OStJ|KC*SS}} (born '''Lev Winogradsky''';<ref>Horace Newcomb, ''Encyclopedia of Television''</ref> 25 December 1906&nbsp;– 13 December 1998)  was a [[Russian Empire|Ukrainian]]-born [[United Kingdom|British]] [[media proprietor]] and [[impresario]]. Originally a dancer, and later a [[talent agent]], Grade's interest in television production began in 1954 when he founded the [[ITC Entertainment|Incorporated Television Company]] (ITC; commonly known as ITC Entertainment) to distribute programmes, and following the success of ''[[The Adventures of Robin Hood (TV series)|The Adventures of Robin Hood]]'' decided to focus on bringing them to the American market. Grade had some success in this field with such series as [[Gerry Anderson]]'s many [[Supermarionation]] series such as ''[[Thunderbirds (TV series)|Thunderbirds]]'', [[Patrick McGoohan]]'s ''[[The Prisoner]]'', and [[Jim Henson]]'s ''[[The Muppet Show]]''. Later, Grade invested in feature film production, but several expensive [[Box office bomb|box-office failures]] caused him to lose control of ITC, and ultimately resulted in the disestablishment of ATV after it lost its [[ITV franchise|ITV franchise.]]<ref name="Economist_obit">{{Cite news |date=17 December 1998 |title=Lord Grade of Elstree, showman, died on December 13th, aged 91 |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |url=http://www.economist.com/node/180361 |access-date=31 December 2013 |quote=[H]e felt betrayed when in 1982 he lost control of Associated Communications Corporation, the parent company of his television and other interests, to [[Robert Holmes à Court]], an Australian. Lord Grade had felt so close to the Australian that he allowed him to buy 51% of the voting shares. Holmes à Court then deposed him in a boardroom coup and purged the company of all his staff, even, Lord Grade noted sadly, his tea lady. Later, he observed waspishly, "Robert died quite a young man, for all his millions".}}</ref>