Cecil Madden

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Cecil Charles Madden,

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(29 November 1902 – 27 May 1987), was an English pioneer of television production. In 1936, he moved from

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radio to its experimental television service, and was responsible for many programmes until the service was suspended during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. After the service resumed in 1946, he resumed his television work, and later became a BBC executive, until his retirement in 1964.

Life and career

Madden was born in

Mogador Essaouira ( ; ar, الصويرة, aṣ-Ṣawīra; shi, ⵜⴰⵚⵚⵓⵔⵜ, Taṣṣort, formerly ''Amegdul''), known until the 1960s as Mogador, is a port city in the western Moroccan region of Marakesh-Safi, on the Atlantic coast. It ha ...

, Morocco, the eldest of three children, all boys, of a British consular official, Archibald Maclean Madden CMG, and his wife, Cecilia Catherine, daughter of Allen Page ''née'' Moor.Averill, June
"Madden, Cecil Charles (1902–1987), radio and television producer"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press. retrieved 28 February 2018 After being educated at French schools in Morocco, schools in Spain, and, in England, at

Dover College , motto_translation = I cannot refuse the task , established = , closed = , type = Public SchoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , headmaster = Simon Fisher , r_head_label = , r_head ...

, he worked for the Rio Tinto Group in Spain. On business trips and during his holidays he attended

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

productions and worked in theatres in Paris. In June 1932, Madden married Muriel Emily, née Cochrane. There were a son and a daughter of the marriage."Obituary: Cecil Madden", ''The Times'', 29 May 1987, p. 18 In 1933 he joined the BBC, and was assigned to its talks department, for which he produced a series entitled ''Anywhere for a News Story''. He then produced the outside broadcasting spot on a popular Saturday evening programme, ''In Town Tonight'', before moving to the new Empire Service, the forerunner of the BBC World Service, as a senior producer. In 1936, the BBC set up a television service, in which Madden joined

Gerald Cock Gerald Cock MVO (1887 – 10 November 1973) was a British broadcasting executive, who initially worked for BBC Radio, before being made the corporation's very first Director of Television, in effect the very first Controller of the television ...

, its recently appointed head. After an experimental broadcast in August, the regular service began on 2 November. On that day's schedule,

Dallas Bower Dallas Bower (25 July 1907 – 18 October 1999) was a British director and producer active during the early development of mass media communication. Throughout his career Bower’s work spanned radio plays, television shows, propaganda shorts, ani ...

produced an afternoon

variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

programme starring

Adele Dixon Adele Dixon (born Adela Helena Dixon; 3 June 1908 – 11 April 1992) was an English actress and singer. She sang at the start of regular broadcasts of the BBC Television Service on 2 November 1936. After an early start as a child actress, an ...

and

Buck and Bubbles John William Sublett (February 19, 1902 – May 18, 1986), known by his stage name John W. Bubbles, was an American tap dancer, vaudevillian, movie actor, and television performer. He performed in the duo "Buck and Bubbles", who were the fi ...

, and Madden devised and produced the first in a long series titled ''Picture Page, A Magazine of Topical and General Interest''.Listings
, Radio Times, 2 November 1936, BBC Genome, retrieved 28 February 2018 '' Radio Times'' commented the following year, "A characteristic of Cecil Madden's ''Picture Page'' that has made it a distinctive part of television programmes has been its unfailing topicality". Madden secured a wide range of guests, ranging from the

Sultan of Zanzibar The sultans of Zanzibar ( ar, سلاطين زنجبار) were the rulers of the Sultanate of Zanzibar, which was created on 19 October 1856 after the death of Said bin Sultan, who had ruled Oman and Zanzibar as the sultan of Oman since 1804. Th ...

to the conductors

Wilhelm Furtwängler Gustav Heinrich Ernst Martin Wilhelm Furtwängler ( , , ; 25 January 188630 November 1954) was a German conductor and composer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century. He was a major ...

and

Fritz Reiner Frederick Martin "Fritz" Reiner (December 19, 1888 – November 15, 1963) was a prominent conductor of opera and symphonic music in the twentieth century. Hungarian born and trained, he emigrated to the United States in 1922, where he rose to ...

, the

contract bridge Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other around a table. Millions ...

expert

Ely Culbertson Elie Almon Culbertson (July 22, 1891 – December 27, 1955), known as Ely Culbertson, was an American contract bridge entrepreneur and personality dominant during the 1930s. He played a major role in the popularization of the new game and was wide ...

, the educator

Maria Montessori Maria Tecla Artemisia Montessori ( , ; August 31, 1870 – May 6, 1952) was an Italian physician and educator best known for the philosophy of education that bears her name, and her writing on scientific pedagogy. At an early age, Montessori e ...

, the theatre director Sir Barry Jackson, politicians, sportsmen and women and others. Until television shut down in September 1939 for the duration of the

, Madden organised and produced live programmes of variety, ballets, and drama. He sometimes appeared in front of the cameras as presenter.Cecil Madden
, BBC Genome, retrieved 28 February 2018 On the outbreak of war, Madden returned to radio. In 1940 he was appointed head of the BBC's overseas entertainment unit, broadcasting to Commonwealth forces serving abroad. He presented the ''American Eagle in Britain'' programme from 17 November 1940 to 9 September 1945; ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' commented that it earned Madden the title of the "GI's friend". He also produced the popular ''

Variety Bandbox ''Variety Bandbox'' is a BBC Radio variety show transmitted initially in the BBC General Forces Programme, General Forces Programme and then the BBC Light Programme, Light Programme. Featuring a mixture of comic performances and music, the show h ...

''. Madden's artists included Bing Crosby and

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

Gertrude Lawrence Gertrude Lawrence (4 July 1898 – 6 September 1952) was an English actress, singer, dancer and musical comedy performer known for her stage appearances in the West End of London and on Broadway in New York. Early life Lawrence was born Gertr ...

, and George Raft; Glenn Miller conducted the band. Among younger artists discovered by Madden were

Petula Clark Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and composer. She has one of the longest serving careers of a British singer, spanning more than seven decades. Clark's professional career began during the ...

and the

Beverley Sisters The Beverley Sisters ( MBE) were an English female close harmony pop vocal and light entertainment trio, consisting of three siblings from London. They were most popular during the 1950s and 1960s, and became well-known through their radio and ...

. When television reopened on 7 June 1946, Madden returned to his former post. He scheduled new programmes including '' This Is Your Life'' and ''

What's My Line ''What's My Line?'' is a panel game show that originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent U.S. revivals. The game uses celebrity panelis ...

''. In 1950-51 he was in charge of children's programmes, and is credited by ''The Times'' with transforming children's television from "a whimsy affair" into "an intelligent and entertaining show". He then became assistant to the controller of television programmes and worked mostly in management rather than producing, until his retirement from the BBC in 1964. Madden, a resident of

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, died in Westminster Hospital, London on 27 May 1987.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Madden, Cecil 1902 births 1987 deaths English radio producers English television producers History of television in the United Kingdom 20th-century British businesspeople