Jeremy Isaacs | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jeremy Israel Isaacs (1932-09-28)28 September 1932 (age 93) |
| Alma mater | Merton College, Oxford |
| Occupation | Television executive |
| Years active | 1958–2000 |
Sir Jeremy Israel Isaacs (born 28 September 1932) is a Scottish television producer and executive, and an opera manager.
Following a career atGranada Television, theBBC andThames Television, Isaacs was the founding chief executive ofChannel 4 in 1982, serving in the role until 1987. He won theBAFTA Fellowship in 1985, theBritish Film Institute Fellowship in 1986, and theInternational Emmy Directorate Award in 1987. He was also the General Director of theRoyal Opera House from 1987 to 1996. A recipient of manyBritish Academy Television Awards andInternational Emmy Awards, Isaacs wasknighted in the1996 Birthday Honours "for services to Broadcasting and to the Arts."[1]
Isaacs was born inGlasgow from what were described as "Scottish Jewish roots".[2] He grew up inHillhead, the son of a jeweller and aGP, and is a cousin to virologistAlick Isaacs. He was educated at the independentGlasgow Academy andMerton College, Oxford, where he readClassics.[3][4] Whilst at Oxford he served as President of theOxford Union. He also served in theRoyal Scots Fusiliers.[5]
Isaacs began his career in television when he joinedGranada Television inManchester as a producer in 1958. At Granada he was involved in creating or supervising series such asWorld in Action andWhat the Papers Say. He worked for theBBC'sPanorama in the 1960s and was the overall producer for the 26-episode seriesThe World at War (1973–74) forThames Television. He was Director of Programmes for Thames between 1974 and 1978. He producedIreland: A Television History (1981) for the BBC and co-produced the twenty-four episodetelevision documentary seriesCold War (1998)[6] and the ten-part seriesMillennium (1999).[7]
Isaacs was the founding chief executive ofChannel 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 showCountdown, the pop music seriesThe Tube, andsoap operaBrookside had a place in the schedule from the beginning. The channel commissionedMichael Elliott's production ofKing Lear (1983) withLaurence Olivier in the title role and Isaacs recommissioned a number of programmes from his time at Granada includingWhat the Papers Say. Isaac's launched his concept for Channel 4 during theJames MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at theEdinburgh TV Festival in 1979.[8]
Isaacs' appointment ofDavid 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 theFilm on Four strand. Despite a general liberal atmosphere, a few commissioned programmes, such asKen Loach'sA 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 seriesAfter Dark) to Z (a four-hour dramatisation of a Gothic horror novel,Zastrozzi).[9]
When handing over responsibility for running the channel toMichael Grade, Isaacs threatened to throttle him if he betrayed the trust placed in him to respect the channel's remit.[10]
After leaving Channel 4 at the end of 1987,[11] and having failed to be appointed director-general of the BBC, Isaacs became General Director ofThe 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 revealingThe House (1996) documentary series on BBC2. Isaacs also served on the Board of Governors of theBritish Film Institute in the 1980s.[12]
From 1989 to 1998, Isaacs was the interviewer in a revival of the BBC seriesFace to Face; the former politician and journalistJohn Freeman had filled this role in the original 1959–62 run.
Between 1997 and 2000, Isaacs was president of theRoyal Television Society. He was also chairman ofArtsworld before it was sold toSky.
| Cultural offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | President of theRoyal Television Society 1997–2000 | Succeeded by |
| Media offices | ||
| Preceded by (new position) | Chief Executive ofChannel 4 1981–1987 | Succeeded by |
