 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Huw Wheldon" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(July 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Sir Huw Pyrs Wheldon,OBE, MC (7 May 1916 – 14 March 1986) was a Welsh broadcaster andBBC executive.
Huw Pyrs Wheldon was born on 7 May 1916 inPrestatyn,Flintshire,Wales. He was educated atFriars School, Bangor, at the time an all-boysgrammar school, and graduated with a BSc(Econ) degree from theLondon School of Economics in 1938.[1] His father, Sir Wynn Powell Wheldon, was a prominent educationalist who had been awarded theDSO for gallantry in theFirst World War. His grandfather, Tomos Jones Wheldon, had been the Moderator of theCalvinist Methodist Church in Wales. His mother, Megan née Edwards, was an accomplished pianist.
On the outbreak of war in 1939, Wheldon enlisted in theBuffs. He was commissioned into theRoyal Welch Fusiliers in 1940, but subsequently volunteered for the airborne forces and joined theRoyal Ulster Rifles, with whom he flew intoNormandy. He was awarded theMilitary Cross for gallantry and outstanding courage onD-Day + 1, took part in the crossing of the Rhine on the 24th March 1945 and by the end of hostilities held the rank of Major.
After the war Wheldon joined theArts Council of Wales, and then in 1951 became the Arts Council's administrator for theFestival of Britain, work for which he was appointed anOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1952.
In 1952, he joined the BBC as a publicity officer, but he was keen to make programmes, and he made his first appearance on television running a nationwideconker competition, and subsequently became a familiar face on children's TV with his programmeAll Your Own. FutureLed Zeppelin guitaristJimmy Page was a guest on his show in 1957 as part of the J.G.Skiffle Group.
He also began to produce and present adult programmes, such asMen in Battle with SirBrian Horrocks, andPortraits of Power withRobert McKenzie. He was also responsible forOrson Welles' Sketchbook (1955).
It was with the arts magazine programmeMonitor that Wheldon truly made his mark on the cultural scene. He was the editor of the programme – in the sense in which a newspaper has an editor – and he set about moulding a team of exceptional talents, includingJohn Schlesinger,Ken Russell,Humphrey Burton, andMelvyn Bragg.
"Making the good popular and the popular good has
been a core purpose of the BBC since its foundation."
Monitor ranged in subject over all the arts: the hundredth show wasElgar (1962), a film directed by Ken Russell and written by Wheldon, that celebrated the composerEdward Elgar.Monitor featured specially made films, sometimes just one full-length item, eventually using actors to re-enact the subjects' lives. Prior to this, only photos or location shots had been used in programmes.
Wheldon'sMonitor lasted until he had "interviewed everyone I am interested in interviewing"; he was succeeded byJonathan Miller for the series' last season.
In 1967, he was invited to deliver the MacMillan Memorial Lecture to theInstitution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland. He chose the subject "Perspectives on Television".[2]
Wheldon then entered BBC management, becoming Head of Documentaries. In 1968, he became the managing director of BBC television, a position he held until compulsory retirement in 1975. During this time he again gathered a team of the talents about him, promoting fellow programme makers such asDavid Attenborough andPaul Fox to high executive office, and the period of his administration included programmes such asDad's Army,Kenneth Clark'sCivilisation,Alistair Cooke's America, andJacob Bronowski'sThe Ascent of Man (the last two were co-productions withTime-Life Television).
After he retired from management Wheldon co-wrote, withJ. H. Plumb, and presentedRoyal Heritage, a ten-part series on the history of the British monarchy as expressed through theRoyal Collections. Produced byMichael Gill, it achieved immense popularity ratings in 1977, the year ofthe Queen's Silver Jubilee. Two other major documentaries followed,The Library of Congress andDestination D-Day.
Wheldon wasknighted in 1976 for services to television. Following his retirement from the BBC he became Chairman of the Court of the Governors of theLondon School of Economics, where he had read economics before the war. He disarmed potential sponsors of the school by eschewing flattery and opening negotiations with the bald statement that what he was after was their cash. He was also a formidable and active President of theRoyal Television Society (RTS). An RTS Memorial Lecture in his name by a distinguished broadcaster is televised annually.Brian Cox gave the lecture in 2010; the following year it was given byBettany Hughes. Other speakers have includedDavid Attenborough,Jeremy Isaacs and, in 2005, the writerPaul Abbott. In addition to this, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) dispenses a Huw Wheldon Award for Specialist Factual Programme. There are also Wheldon bursaries and awards at the LSE and theUniversity of Wales, Bangor.
Sir Huw's lasting influence, other than as a programme maker, which was considerable, probably lies in the ways in which he articulated the needs and requirements of public service broadcasting. "To make the good popular and the popular good", "the aim is not to avoid failure, but to attempt success", "multiplicity does not mean choice", were among his favourite sayings. He also coined the term "narrowcasting".
Wheldon died ofcancer 14th March 1986, aged 69. His ashes were spread anonymously in theRoyal Botanic Gardens atKew, where he had served as a Trustee, and which he had loved.
Sir Huw Wheldon was highly regarded in the United States, where he had many friends, one of whom,SenatorDaniel Patrick Moynihan, causedNorman Podhoretz's obituary of his friend Wheldon, a version of which had first appeared in Podhoretz's syndicated column, to be entered into theCongressional Record.
Wheldon was married to the novelistJacqueline Wheldon. They had three children. Sir Huw's son, Wynn Wheldon (named after his grandfather), is his biographer.
| Cultural offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | President of theRoyal Television Society 1979–1986 | Succeeded by |
