Huw Wheldon
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Sir Huw Pyrs Wheldon, executive.
Early life
Wheldon was born on 7 May 1916 in
Military service
On the outbreak of war in 1939, Wheldon enlisted in the
Broadcasting career
After the war Wheldon joined the Arts Council of Wales, and then in 1951 became the Arts Council's administrator for the Festival of Britain, work for which he was appointed an Officer 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 nationwide conker competition, and subsequently became a familiar face on children's TV with his programme All Your Own. Future Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page was a guest on his show in 1957.
He also began to produce and present adult programmes, such as Men in Battle with Sir Brian Horrocks, and Portraits of Power with Robert McKenzie. He was also responsible for Orson Welles' Sketchbook (1955).
It was with the arts magazine programme
"Making the good popular and the popular good has
been a core purpose of the BBC since its foundation."
— Huw Wheldon
Monitor ranged in subject over all the arts: the hundredth show was Elgar (1962), a film directed by Ken Russell and written by Wheldon, that celebrated the composer Edward 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's Monitor lasted until he had "interviewed everyone I am interested in interviewing"; he was succeeded by Jonathan Miller for the series' last season.
In 1967, he was invited to deliver the MacMillan Memorial Lecture to the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland. He chose the subject "Perspectives on Television".[2]
Wheldon then entered BBC management, becoming by turns 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 as
After he retired from management Wheldon co-wrote, with
Later life
Wheldon was
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 of cancer in 1986, aged 69. His ashes were spread anonymously in the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, 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, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, caused Norman Podhoretz's obituary of his friend Wheldon, a version of which had first appeared in Podhoretz's syndicated column, to be entered into the Congressional Record.
Wheldon was married to the novelist Jacqueline Wheldon. They had three children. Sir Huw's son, Wynn Wheldon (named after his grandfather), is his biographer.
References
- Who's Who & Who Was Who. Vol. 2021 (online ed.). A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ "Hugh Miller Macmillan". Macmillan Memorial Lectures. Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland. Archived from the original on 4 October 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
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