William G. Stewart

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For other people named William Stewart, see William Stewart (disambiguation).
William G. Stewart
Born
William Gladstone Stewart

(1933-07-15)15 July 1933[1]
Lancaster, Lancashire
Died21 September 2017(2017-09-21) (aged 84)
Years active1960s–2017
Spouses
Audrey Harrison
​
​
(m. 1960⁠–⁠1976)​
​
(m. 1976⁠–⁠1986)​
Laura Calland
​
(m. 1997)​
Children5

William Gladstone Stewart (15 July 1933 – 21 September 2017) was an English television producer, director, and television presenter, best known as the presenter and producer of the Channel 4 quiz show Fifteen to One from 1988 to 2003.

Early life

Stewart was born on 15 July 1933 in Lancaster.[2][3] He was orphaned as a child before the age of three,[4] and he was raised in a children's home in Sidcup, Kent.[2] After leaving Shooters Hill Grammar School (now called Shooters Hill Sixth Form College), Stewart was employed in jobs working in an office.[2] He undertook his National Service in Kenya and worked as a teacher in the Royal Army Educational Corps as part of his attachment to the King's African Rifles.[1][4]

In 1958, Stewart ventured to Southampton to join the

Butlins at Butlin's Pwllheli in North Wales. Stewart said of the opportunity, "I thought I'd have a great time and perhaps work in the kitchens. But, while I was having an interview, a chap asked if I wanted to be a redcoat. He must have seen something in me."[2] There, he organised a talent contest won by Jimmy Tarbuck and led the teenager to become a redcoat and a stand-up comedian.[2]

Broadcasting career

In the following year, Stewart went to a talk organised by the producer T Lesley Jackson about a career in television at the YMCA in

stage manager, before ending up as a production assistant.[4] After the 1959 general election, Stewart began working as private secretary to Tom Driberg, the Labour Member of Parliament. Driberg taught Stewart about art, classical music and literature, and broadened his social circle.[4]

Stewart was encouraged by the comedian Eric Sykes to enrol on a television director's course in 1965.[4] He was advised his best career path would be to remain in the entertainment industry, and Sykes recommended Stewart to his fellow light entertainment comedian Frank Muir.[1] The same year, Stewart directed episodes of the sitcoms Call It What You Like and Sykes and a...[2] He moved to the rival broadcaster ITV in 1967, and was a director on The Frost Programme,[2] and The Frost Report for Associated-Rediffusion.[4]

Among the many shows he produced or directed were

Pearson Television (which also purchased Thames), and they have now been amalgamated (along with the likes of Grundy Productions) into Talkback Thames, the UK arm of FremantleMedia.[2]

In 1998, he successfully sued the Fifteen to One contestant Trevor Montague, who had lied to reappear on the programme.[5] He made a documentary of Tom Driberg in 2009.[6][7]

Personal life

He was thrice married:

  1. Audrey Harrison (1960–1976) with whom he had one son, Nick.
  2. Sally Geeson (1976–1986) with whom he had one daughter, Hayley, and one son, Barnaby. Geeson is an actress and played Sally Abbot in the sitcom Bless This House for which Stewart was the producer.
  3. Laura Calland (1997–2017) with whom he had two daughters, Isobel and Hannah. Calland was the voice-over artist for Fifteen to One.[4]

He was a long-standing supporter of the campaign to return the Elgin Marbles to Greece.[8] He joked that if, on an episode of Fifteen to One, too few contestants survived the first round to continue the game, he would give a speech on the Marbles to fill the time. This happened in a 2001 episode, where he gave a lengthy presentation stating the case to return them, for which the channel was criticised.[9]

He died on 21 September 2017 at the age of 84.[10] At the time of his death, his birthplace was reported as being the Lincolnshire village of Habrough.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c "William G Stewart; Gifted television producer and presenter best known as the sober quizmaster on Fifteen to One". The Daily Telegraph. 23 September 2017. p. 27. Retrieved 30 June 2019 – via Infotrac Newsstand.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Hayward, Anthony (24 September 2017). "William G Stewart obituary; Host of TV quiz show Fifteen to One and producer-director of British light entertainment from Bless This House to Family Fortunes". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  3. ISSN 1615-9306
    .
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "William G Stewart; Host of quickfire TV quiz show Fifteen to One and producer-director of the comedies Bless This House and Father Dear Father". The Times. 9 October 2017. p. 50. Retrieved 30 June 2019 – via Academic OneFile.
  5. ^ Deans, Jason (20 September 2001). "Millionaire: the background". Retrieved 22 September 2017 – via www.theguardian.com.
  6. ^ TV review from The Times, 20 March 2009
  7. ^ "Tom Driberg and Me: A Personal Portrait by William G Stewart", BBC Four, March 2009
  8. ^ The National Lottery People's Quiz – BBC.co.uk
  9. ^ "Channel 4 hit by wrestling rap". BBC.
  10. ^ "William G Stewart, 15 to 1 host, dies aged 84". BBC News. 21 September 2017.
  11. ^ William G Stewart, television presenter – obituary. The Telegraph. 22 September 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2023.

External links

Media offices
New creation Host of Fifteen to One
1988–2003 		Succeeded by
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