Grace Wyndham Goldie
Grace Wyndham Goldie | |
---|---|
Born | Grace Murrell Nisbet 26 March 1900 |
Died | 3 June 1986 (aged 86) |
Nationality | British |
Occupation(s) | Television and radio producer and executive |
Employer | BBC |
Title | Head of BBC Television Talks, later Head of BBC News and Current Affairs |
Spouse | Frank Wyndham Goldie |
Grace Wyndham Goldie
Beginning as a radio producer, Wyndham Goldie soon moved into television and pioneered many of the formats now taken for granted in Britain. She became Head of Talks and later Head of the Current Affairs Group at BBC Television. David Attenborough described her as "one of the most influential of television's pioneers [...] During her career she helped and encouraged countless people who were working in the medium and excited by its possibilities."[1]
Early life
She was born Grace Murrell Nisbet in
Career
Wyndham Goldie developed her interest in broadcasting while as a weekly columnist for The Listener, which reprinted the texts of BBC talks, between 1935 and 1941. She specialised in drama and entertainment, and wrote enthusiastically about the new medium of television.[5] After working as a civil servant at the Board of Trade from 1942 to 1944, she was invited to join the BBC as a radio producer in June 1944.[6] In 1947, she joined the Television Talks Department.[7]
Wyndham Goldie pioneered television coverage of general elections and the coverage of politics and current affairs on television. The first general election which the television service was able to cover occurred in February 1950. The BBC engaged in no reporting of the campaign whatsoever because of a cautious reading of the Representation of the People Act 1948. However, producer Grace Wyndham Goldie managed to persuade the BBC to transmit a programme on election night to report the results only – there was to be absolutely no prediction of what was to come.
By 1955, the existence of television on election nights was having a significant effect. It prompted returning officers to hold their counts immediately after the close of polls, so that the results were declared during the early hours of the morning, rather than the following day. In 1955, for the first time, a majority of constituencies declared on the night (357 of the 630 constituencies).
In 1952 Wyndham Goldie started a new programme, Press Conference, which was based on a format imported from US television.
Wyndham Goldie relaunched the ailing
Wyndham Goldie had a low opinion of journalists whom she described as "the dirty mac brigade". She did not like the idea of "the story" and thought that scoops were boys' games. However, she respected the serious journalism that was embodied in such publications as
Wyndham Goldie's relationship to
As "Head of Talks" at BBC Television, she had a huge influence on the development of the serious side of BBC TV broadcasting. She passionately defended public service broadcasting, and advocated keeping the BBC independent of government interference. She retired from the BBC in 1965, at the age of 65.
Grace Wyndham Goldie died on 3 June 1986 at the age of 86. A blue plaque marks St Mary Abbot's Court in Kensington, where she lived for over 50 years.[13]
Publications
- Facing the Nation: Television & Politics 1936–76, The Bodley Head, 1977 ISBN 978-0-370-01383-1
References
- ^ "The Grace Wyndham Goldie (BBC) Trust Fund". BBC. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
- ^ Grist, 2006, Grace Wyndham Goldie: First Lady of Television, pp. 8–10.
- ^ Grist, 2006, Grace Wyndham Goldie: First Lady of Television, pp. 14–15.
- ^ Husband Wyndham Goldie's full entry [1] and bio note [2] at Internet Movie Database.
- ^ Grist, 2006, Grace Wyndham Goldie: First Lady of Television, pp. 28–41.
- ^ Grist, 2006, Grace Wyndham Goldie: First Lady of Television, pp. 45–52.
- ^ Grist, 2006, Grace Wyndham Goldie: First Lady of Television, p. 62.
- ^ a b Grist, 2006, Grace Wyndham Goldie: First Lady of Television, p. 91
- ^ Grist, 2006, Grace Wyndham Goldie: First Lady of Television, pp. 91–92.
- ^ R Samuel, Island Stories (London 1999) p. 188
- ^ Grist, 2006, Grace Wyndham Goldie: First Lady of Television, p. 210.
- ^ Grist, 2006, Grace Wyndham Goldie: First Lady of Television, pp. 191–192.
- ^ Blue plaque for BBC TV pioneer Grace Wyndham Goldie, BBC, 13 October, 2022
Further reading
- Grist, John (2006), Grace Wyndham Goldie, First Lady of Television, Authors Online, ISBN 978-0-7552-0248-5