William Rawlinson Marsh (19 June 1917 – 19 December 1995) was a British

theatrical agent A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, and other professionals in various entertainment or sport ...

. Widely known as the "doyen of theatrical agents", he was the founder and namesake of Billy Marsh Associates, a renowned entertainment agency, in recent times representing the likes of

Jon Culshaw Jonathan Peter Culshaw (born 2 June 1968) is an English actor, comedian and impressionist. He is best known for his work on the radio comedy '' Dead Ringers'' since 2000. Culshaw has voiced a number of characters for ITV shows including ''2DT ...

Esther Rantzen Dame Esther Louise Rantzen (born 22 June 1940) is an English journalist and television presenter, who presented the BBC television series ''That's Life!'' for 21 years, from 1973 until 1994. She works with various charitable causes, and foun ...

and

Fiona Phillips Fiona Phillips (born 1 January 1961) is an English journalist, broadcaster and television presenter. She is best known for her presenting roles with the ITV Breakfast programme ''GMTV Today''. Early life Phillips was born in Canterbury Hospit ...

. He is the only theatrical agent ever to be subject of ''

This Is Your Life This Is Your Life may refer to: Television * ''This Is Your Life'' (American franchise), an American radio and television documentary biography series hosted by Ralph Edwards * ''This Is Your Life'' (Australian TV series), the Australian versio ...

'', surprised by

Michael Aspel Michael Terence Aspel (born 12 January 1933) is an English retired television newsreader and host of programmes such as '' Crackerjack'', ''Aspel & Company'', ''Give Us a Clue'', '' This is Your Life'', '' Strange but True?'' and ''Antiques Ro ...

in 1990.

Managerial career

He worked for

Bernard Delfont Bernard Delfont, Baron Delfont (born Boris Winogradsky; 5 September 1909 – 28 July 1994) was a leading Russian-born British theatrical impresario. Life and career Delfont was born in Tokmak, Berdyansky Uyezd, Taurida Governorate, Russian ...

's London Management company, with responsibility for stars including

Morecambe and Wise Eric Morecambe (John Eric Bartholomew, 14 May 1926 – 28 May 1984) and Ernie Wise (Ernest Wiseman, 27 November 1925 – 21 March 1999), known as Morecambe and Wise (and sometimes as Eric and Ernie), were an English comic double act, working i ...

, until 1987 when he formed his own talent management agency Billy Marsh Associates, which survives him. In 1991, he founded his own show business promotions company, appointing friend and protégé Johnny Mans as

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

and partner, eventually becoming Johnny Mans Productions. On 17 June 1996, his ashes were interred underneath the stage at

The London Palladium ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

, alongside an honorary plaque, which was "in recognition of his belief, encouragement and kindness to countless talented performers, many of whom have become legends upon this stage". In December 2008 Marsh was the subject of the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

programme ''

Great Lives ''Great Lives'' is a BBC Radio 4 biography series, produced in Bristol. It has been presented by Joan Bakewell, Humphrey Carpenter, Francine Stock and currently (since April 2006) Matthew Parris. A distinguished guest is asked to nominate the pe ...

'', nominated by William G.Stewart, and

Michael Grade Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth, (born 8 March 1943) is an English television executive and businessman. He has held a number of senior roles in television, including controller of BBC1 (1984–1986), chief executive of Channel 4 ( ...

, the nephew of his long-time employer Bernard Delfont.

References

External links

1917 births 1995 deaths British talent agents Morecambe and Wise 20th-century British comedians People from Dover District 20th-century British businesspeople {{UK-bio-stub