biography
| name: |
Grade (of Elstree), Lew Grade, Baron
|
| |
originally Louis Winogradsky
|
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1906–98)
|
| biography:
| Theatrical impresario, born near Odessa, S Ukraine, the eldest of three brothers who were to dominate British show-business for over 40 years. He arrived in Britain in 1912, accompanied by his parents and younger brother Boris Grade, who became Baron Bernard Delfont of Stepney (1909–94). The brothers became dancers, then theatrical agents, along with the youngest brother Leslie Grade. Bernard entered theatrical management in 1941, and acquired many properties, notably the London Hippodrome. His many companies embraced theatre, film, television, music, and property interests. From 1958 to 1978 he presented the annual Royal Variety Performance. Lew was an early entrant to the world of commercial television, and became managing director of ATV in 1962. He headed several large film entertainment and communications companies. He was knighted in 1969 and made a life peer in 1976. |
|
|
