Lew Grade
Lev Isaakovich Winogradsky was born in Tokmak, a town within the Berdyansky Uyezd of the Russian Empire. His family fled pogroms in 1912 when he was five years old. They traveled from Odessa through Berlin before settling on Brick Lane near Shoreditch in London's East End. The Winogradskys lived in rented rooms at the north end of Brick Lane for two years. Their son attended Rochelle Street Elementary School where Yiddish was spoken by ninety percent of the pupils. Isaak worked as a trouser-presser to support his three sons. Bernard and Leslie were Grade's younger brothers who grew up alongside him.
Grade became an agent for a clothing company at age fifteen. He entered a dancing competition at the Royal Albert Hall in 1926. Fred Astaire served as one of the judges for this event. Grade won the Charleston Champion of the World title that year. He adopted the stage name Louis Grad and billed himself as The Dancer with the Humorous Feet. A Paris reporter made a typing error while writing about him. Grade liked the mistake so much he changed his name to Lew Grade permanently. Joe Collins signed him as a dancer in 1931. Decades later, Lord Grade danced the Charleston at a party hosted by Arthur Ochs Sulzberger in New York.
Around 1934, Grade went into partnership with Joe Collins. They formed a talent agency called Collins & Grade. Larry Adler played harmonica for their earliest clients. The Quintette du Hot Club de France also performed under their management. Grade joined the British Army following the start of the Second World War in 1939. He arranged entertainment for soldiers stationed in Harrogate before serving overseas. An old problem with swelling knees ended his military service after two years. The arrangement with Collins terminated in 1945. Grade then formed a partnership with his brother Leslie. Their firm became known as Lew and Leslie Grade Ltd or the Grade Organisation. They traveled to the United States that same year to develop entertainment interests. Bob Hope and Judy Garland were among their connections. The brothers became main bookers for artists at the London Palladium in 1948. Val Parnell managed the venue for the Moss Empires Group owned by Prince Littler's family. EMI acquired the agency in 1967 for twenty-one million dollars.
Mike Nidorf contacted Grade in 1954 regarding an advertisement in The Times. The ad invited franchise bids for the new commercial ITV network. Grade assembled a consortium including impresarios Val Parnell and Prince Littler. They formed the Incorporated Television Programme Company which soon changed its name to ITC. Their bid to the Independent Television Authority was rejected due to conflict of interest concerns. The Associated Broadcasting Development Company had gained ITA approval but lacked capital. Grade's consortium joined ABD to form Associated Television. Sunday Night at the London Palladium ran from 1955 to 1967 and again from 1973 to 1974. It became one of the most popular programmes on British television. Grade commissioned The Adventures of Robin Hood with Hannah Weinstein. ITC became a wholly owned ATV subsidiary in 1957. Crossroads began its initial quarter century run in November 1964 as a rival soap opera to Coronation Street. Howard Thomas complained that Grade distributed programming for Birmingham Alabama rather than Birmingham England. The Saint sold to over eighty countries between 1962 and 1969. Thunderbirds episodes cost twenty-two thousand pounds each.
Grade approached Blake Edwards to revive the Pink Panther franchise as a TV series. Edwards persuaded Grade to finance the property as a feature film project instead. Peter Sellers waived his fee in return for profit sharing. United Artists gained distribution rights and a five percent share of profits. The Return of the Pink Panther released in 1975 was commercially successful. Farewell My Lovely also found success in 1975. The Boys From Brazil co-released with 20th Century Fox appeared in 1978. Movie Movie came out the same year with Warner Bros. Grade produced Ingmar Bergman films Autumn Sonata and From the Life of the Marionettes. Orson Welles portrayed a studio executive named Lew Lord in The Muppet Movie. Raise the Titanic proved decisive against his career. Critics panned the film after it cost thirty-six million dollars but returned only eight million in rentals. Saturn Three and The Legend of the Lone Ranger followed as expensive failures. On Golden Pond won an Academy Award despite these losses. Sophie's Choice also received critical acclaim and awards recognition.
The poor reception for Raise the Titanic damaged Grade's standing in mass media by 1980. A decision effective from January first 1982 required ATV Midlands to terminate its association with Grade and ITC. This led to rebranding as Central Television. Grade resigned his position while the company underwent partnerships and mergers. Robert Holmes à Court dismissed him and all his staff in 1982 when he lost control of ACC. Norman Lear brought Grade in June 1982 to head Embassy Communications International London division. He became producer of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Starlight Express. Coca-Cola bought Embassy leading to creation of the Grade Company in 1985. Grade served as vice-president of Loews Group chain of cinemas in the United States. His firm produced adaptations of works by novelist Dame Barbara Cartland. He owned rights to four hundred fifty of her romances. By early to mid-1990s, Grade returned to ITC one final time until his death.
Grade was knighted in 1969. He created a life peer as Baron Grade of Elstree on twenty-second June 1976. He reportedly chose Elstree because ATV's main studios were based there. Grade told interviewer Mike Wallace on CBS program 60 Minutes in 1978 that he did not intend to retire until year 2000. He died of heart failure aged ninety-one on thirteenth December 1998 in London. The Liberal Jewish Cemetery in Willesden neighbourhood buried him. BBC Radio 2 transmitted two one-hour tribute programmes on twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth December 2006. These broadcasts celebrated Grade's life and marked centenary of his birth. He remained member of Founding Council of Rothermere American Institute at University of Oxford throughout later years.
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Common questions
When was Lew Grade born and where did his family flee from?
Lew Grade was born in 1906 in Tokmak, Russia. His family fled pogroms in 1912 when he was five years old.
How did Lew Grade get the name Lew Grade instead of Louis Grad?
A Paris reporter made a typing error while writing about him as Louis Grad. Grade liked the mistake so much he changed his name to Lew Grade permanently.
What television shows did Lew Grade produce during the 1950s and 1960s?
Sunday Night at the London Palladium ran from 1955 to 1967 and again from 1973 to 1974. Crossroads began its initial quarter century run in November 1964 as a rival soap opera to Coronation Street.
Which films caused financial losses for Lew Grade in the late 1970s?
Raise the Titanic proved decisive against his career after costing thirty-six million dollars but returning only eight million in rentals. Saturn Three and The Legend of the Lone Ranger followed as expensive failures.
When did Lew Grade die and how old was he at the time of death?
Lew Grade died of heart failure aged ninety-one on thirteenth December 1998 in London. He had been born in 1906, making him ninety-one years old when he passed away.