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Jeremy Isaacs
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{{Short description|Scottish television producer and executive, and opera manager}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}} {{Use British English|date=March 2018}} {{Infobox person | name = <!-- Jeremy Isaacs --> | image = | alt = | caption = | honorific_prefix = [[Sir]] | birth_name = Jeremy Israel Isaacs | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1932|9|28|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Glasgow]], [[Scotland]] | death_date = | death_place = | alma_mater = [[Merton College, Oxford]] | other_names = | occupation = Television executive | years_active = 1958β2000 | notable_works = }} '''Sir Jeremy Israel Isaacs''' (born 28 September 1932) is a Scottish television producer and executive, and an opera manager. Following a career at [[Granada Television]], the [[BBC]] and [[Thames Television]], Isaacs was the founding chief executive of [[Channel 4]] in 1982, serving in the role until 1987. He won the [[BAFTA Fellowship]] in 1985, the [[British Film Institute Fellowship]] in 1986, and the [[International Emmy Directorate Award]] in 1987. He was also the General Director of the [[Royal Opera House]] from 1987 to 1996. A recipient of many [[British Academy Television Awards]] and [[International Emmy Awards]], Isaacs was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] in the [[1996 Birthday Honours]] "for services to Broadcasting and to the Arts."<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=54427 |date=14 June 1996 |pages=2 }}</ref> ==Early life== Isaacs was born in [[Glasgow]] from what were described as "Scottish Jewish roots".<ref>Attias, Elaine. [https://archive.today/20130131232712/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/475576371.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+01,+1986&author=Elaine+Attias&pub=Toronto+Star&desc=Britain's+exciting+Channel+4+breaking+all+lthe+TV+rules&pqatl=google "Britain's exciting Channel 4 breaking all the TV rules"], ''[[Toronto Star]]'', 1 November 1986. Accessed 31 August 2011. "In his early 50s, he is a personal and passionate man who went from Scottish Jewish roots to a philosophy degree at Oxford, presidency of the [[Oxford Union]] and on to top programming positions at Thames and Granada television, Britain's powerful commercial independents."</ref> He grew up in [[Hillhead]], the son of a jeweller and a [[General practitioner|GP]], and is a cousin to virologist [[Alick Isaacs]]. He was educated at the independent [[The Glasgow Academy|Glasgow Academy]] and [[Merton College, Oxford]], where he read [[Classics]].<ref name="MCreg">{{cite book|editor1-last=Levens|editor1-first=R.G.C.|title=Merton College Register 1900β1964|date=1964|publisher=Basil Blackwell|location=Oxford|page=425}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url= https://www.theguardian.com/money/2008/sep/06/workandcareers.television | title= My mentors | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=Jeremy | last=Isaacs | date=6 September 2008}}</ref> Whilst at Oxford he served as President of the [[Oxford Union]]. He also served in the [[Royal Scots Fusiliers]].<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/544342/index.html | title=Jeremy Isaacs | work=Screenonline | first=Tise | last=Vahimagi | access-date=12 August 2024}}</ref> ==Television career== Isaacs began his career in television when he joined [[Granada Television]] in [[Manchester]] as a producer in 1958. At Granada he was involved in creating or supervising series such as ''[[World in Action]]'' and ''[[What the Papers Say]]''. He worked for the [[BBC]]'s ''[[Panorama (TV series)|Panorama]]'' in the 1960s and was the overall producer for the 26-episode series ''[[The World at War (TV series)|The World at War]]'' (1973β74) for [[Thames Television]]. He was Director of Programmes for Thames between 1974 and 1978. He produced ''Ireland: A Television History'' (1981) for the BBC and co-produced the twenty-four episode [[television documentary]] series [[Cold War (TV series)|''Cold War'']] (1998)<ref name="cnnarchive">[https://web.archive.org/web/20081210013042/http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/01/ cnn.com/ColdWar] at [[Internet Archive]]</ref> and the ten-part series [[CNN Millennium|''Millennium'']] (1999).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1999/10/09/a-journey-of-athousand-years/339a340a-f748-4f8b-8752-83c12b95d679/|title=A Journey Of aThousand Years|last=Shales|first=Tom|date=9 October 1999|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=24 August 2018|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> ===Channel 4=== Isaacs was the founding chief executive of [[Channel 4]] between 1981 and 1987, overseeing its launch period and setting the channel's original cultural approach with opera and foreign language film, although programmes with popular appeal such as the game show ''[[Countdown (game show)|Countdown]]'', the pop music series ''[[The Tube (1982 TV series)|The Tube]]'', and [[soap opera]] ''[[Brookside (television programme)|Brookside]]'' had a place in the schedule from the beginning. The channel commissioned [[Michael Elliott (director)|Michael Elliott]]'s production of ''[[King Lear (1983 TV drama)|King Lear]]'' (1983) with [[Laurence Olivier]] in the title role and Isaacs recommissioned a number of programmes from his time at Granada including ''What the Papers Say''. Isaacs' appointment of [[David Rose (producer)|David Rose]], previously long with the BBC, as the Commissioning Editor for Fiction led to the channel's involvement with the 1980s revival of the British film industry via the [[Film4|Film on Four]] strand. Despite a general liberal atmosphere, a few commissioned programmes, such as [[Ken Loach]]'s ''A Question of Leadership'', were withdrawn from transmission. In 1989, Isaacs named 26 personal favourites from his tenure as Channel 4's chief executive, running from A (the discussion series ''[[After_Dark_(TV_programme)|After Dark]]'') to Z (a four-hour dramatisation of a Gothic horror novel, ''[[Zastrozzi]]'').<ref>''Storm Over 4'', Jeremy Isaacs, 1989.</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/the-independent-archive-channel-4-could-still-be-a-rather-good-delicatessen-1120661.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220608/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/the-independent-archive-channel-4-could-still-be-a-rather-good-delicatessen-1120661.html |archive-date=8 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Channel 4 could still be a rather good delicatessen|last=Leapman|first=Michael|work=The Independent|date=20 September 1989}}</ref> ==Later career== After leaving Channel 4 at the end of 1987,<ref>"Screen: Buzz", ''The Sunday Times'', 3 January 1988</ref> and having failed to be appointed director-general of the BBC, Isaacs became General Director of the [[Royal Opera, London|Royal Opera House]], [[Covent Garden]], a role he fulfilled until 1996. This was a difficult period for the ROH, which was not helped by the broadcast of the revealing ''[[The House (television documentary)|The House]]'' (1996) documentary series on BBC2. Isaacs also served on the Board of Governors of the [[British Film Institute]] in the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=26 January 1985 |title=New governor for the BFI. |journal=[[Screen International]] |issue=481 |pages=15}}</ref> From 1989 to 1998, Isaacs was the interviewer in a revival of the BBC series ''[[Face to Face (British TV series)|Face to Face]]''; the former politician and journalist [[John Freeman (British politician)|John Freeman]] had filled this role in the original 1959β62 run. Between 1997 and 2000, Isaacs was president of the [[Royal Television Society]]. He was also chairman of [[Sky Arts|Artsworld]] before it was sold to [[Sky plc|Sky]]. ==Publications== * ''Storm Over 4: A Personal Account'', [[Weidenfeld & Nicolson]], 1989 * ''Never Mind the Moon'', [[Bantam Press]], 1999 {{ISBN|0-593-04355-3}} * ''Look Me in the Eye: A Life in Television'', [[Little, Brown and Company|Little, Brown]], 2006 {{ISBN|0-316-72728-8}} * ''Cold War'' (In collaboration with Taylor Downing), [[Bantam Press]], 1998 {{ISBN|0-593-04309-X}} ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== {{wikiquote}} *{{IMDb name|0410551|name=Jeremy Isaacs}} *[http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/guides/about.series Cold War: About the Series] at CNN.com *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110430125255/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/sir-jeremy-isaacs-history-man--a-life-in-pictures-467829.html Raymond Snoddy (interview with Isaacs), "Sir Jeremy Isaacs: History man β a life in pictures", ''The Independent'' (London) 27 February 2006] Retrieved 3 March 2008 *[https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1999/nov/05/features11.g23 Sabine Durrant (interview with Isaacs), "It hurts, it hurts, it hurts", ''The Guardian'' (London), 5 November 1999] Retrieved 3 March 2008 {{s-start}} {{s-media}} {{succession box|title=Chief Executive<br />of [[Channel 4]]|before=(new position) |after=[[Michael Grade]]|years= 1981β1987}} {{s-end}} {{BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award |state=collapsed}} {{International Emmy Directorate Award}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Isaacs, Jeremy}} [[Category:1932 births]] [[Category:20th-century British Army personnel]] [[Category:Alumni of Merton College, Oxford]] [[Category:BAFTA fellows]] [[Category:BBC television presenters]] [[Category:BBC television producers]] [[Category:British arts administrators]] [[Category:British film studio executives]] [[Category:British opera managers]] [[Category:Channel 4 people]] [[Category:Fellows of Merton College, Oxford]] [[Category:Governors of the British Film Institute]] [[Category:ITV people]] [[Category:International Emmy Directorate Award]] [[Category:Knights Bachelor]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Mass media people from Glasgow]] [[Category:Military personnel from Glasgow]] [[Category:People associated with the University of East Anglia]] [[Category:People educated at the Glasgow Academy]] [[Category:People from Hillhead]] [[Category:Presidents of the Oxford Union]] [[Category:Royal Opera House]] [[Category:Royal Scots Fusiliers soldiers]] [[Category:Scottish Jews]] [[Category:Scottish people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent]] [[Category:Scottish television executives]] [[Category:Scottish television producers]]
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