Esta Malka Charkham (born 29 March 1949) is a British television and film producer and

casting director In the performing arts industry such as theatre, film, or television, casting, or a casting call, is a pre-production process for selecting a certain type of actor, dancer, singer, or extra for a particular role or part in a script, screenp ...

known for the films ''

Chariots of Fire ''Chariots of Fire'' is a 1981 British historical sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell ...

'' (1981) and ''

Supergirl Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. The character made her fir ...

'' (1984) and the television series ''

Robin of Sherwood ''Robin of Sherwood'' is a British television series, based on the legend of Robin Hood. Created by Richard Carpenter, it was produced by HTV in association with Goldcrest, and ran from 28 April 1984 to 28 June 1986 on the ITV network. In th ...

'' (1984), among others. She is a director of the talent agency Esta Charkham Associates;Charkham on Esta Charkham Associates website
charkham.net; accessed 22 March 2018. the Founder and Principal of West London Drama Training, an independent theatre school for young people between the ages of 7 and 18; and a former Director of the National Youth Theatre.

Early life

Born in London in 1949, the daughter of Montague Charkham (1924–2015) and Regina (née Stockman, 1925–2004), her grandfather was an immigrant tailor from the

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

who on arriving in the UK set up the family tailoring and menswear business in London. Charkham the tailors had 5 shops and bought Hawkes at Number 1 Savile Row and then amalgamated with Gieves to become Gieves & Hawkes with Monty Charkham running the shop and becoming the first generation son of a Russian tailor to run the number one establishment in

Savile Row Savile Row (pronounced ) is a street in Mayfair, central London. Known principally for its traditional bespoke tailoring for men, the street has had a varied history that has included accommodating the headquarters of the Royal Geographical ...

. Esta Charkham was educated at Malorees Primary School, Brondesbury and Kilburn High School (1960–65) and the National Youth Theatre (1965) for whom she appeared in a small role in ''

Bartholomew Fair The Bartholomew Fair was one of London's pre-eminent summer charter fairs. A charter for the fair was granted to Rahere by Henry I to fund the Priory of St Bartholomew; and from 1133 to 1855 it took place each year on 24 August within the preci ...

'' at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England ...

in 1966 with David Calder and David Suchet. The following year she was cast in the leading role of Mrs Philton in the National Youth Theatre's original production of

Peter Terson Peter Terson (born Peter Patterson; 16 February 1932 – 8 April 2021) was a British playwright whose plays have been produced for stage, television and radio. Most of his theatre work was first produced at the Victoria Theatre in Stoke-on-Tren ...

's ''

Zigger Zagger ''Zigger Zagger'' is a 1967 play by Peter Terson which was the first work to be commissioned by the National Youth Theatre who revived it at Wilton's Music Hall in 2017 for its 50th anniversary.Play for Today'' by the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

in the same year. When the play opened in the West End in March 1968 with a professional cast Charkham was in the production and, wanting to be a professional actress, she left school against her parents' wishes. However, the play closed after two weeks and Charkham was now an out of work teenage actress with no qualifications. Shortly after in 1968 she was cast in her first television role as an art student in a play called ''The Life Class'' for ''

Theatre 625 ''Theatre 625'' is a British television drama anthology series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC2 from 1964 to 1968. It was one of the first regular programmes in the line-up of the channel, and the title referred to its production a ...

'', in the same year appearing in the series ''

B-And-B ''B-And-B'' is a British television sitcom starring Bernard Braden, his wife Barbara Kelly and their daughter Kim Braden. It was written by Michael Pertwee, and aired for a pilot and one series in 1968. Cast * Bernard Braden – Bernie *Barba ...

'' with Bernard Braden and

Barbara Kelly Barbara Kelly (5 October 1923 – 15 January 2007) was a Canadian-British actress, best known for her television roles in the United Kingdom opposite her husband Bernard Braden in the 1950s and 1960s, and for many appearances as a panelist ...

for the

...

Career

Bernard Kops Bernard Kops (born 28 November 1926) is a British dramatist, memoirist, poet and novelist. Early life Born in the East End of London, the son of Dutch-Jewish immigrants, Kops was evacuated from London in 1939, and recounted that experience in e ...

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Doctor at Large

Sunday Bloody Sunday "Sunday Bloody Sunday" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the opening track from their 1983 album ''War'' and was released as the album's third single on 21 March 1983 in the Netherlands and West Germany. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" is noted ...

Play for Today

Alan Clarke

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The Professionals

Quadrophenia ''Quadrophenia'' is the sixth studio album by the English rock band the Who, released as a double album on 26 October 1973 by Track Records. It is the group's third rock opera, the two previous being the "mini-opera" song "A Quick One, Whil ...

Scum

Following this Charkham became a television producer, first working on two series of ''

'' for HTV and for which she was nominated for a BAFTA in 1987 before moving on to Central Television where she reformatted and produced ''

Boon Boon may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Boon (game), a trick-taking card game * ''Boon'' (novel), a 1915 satirical work by H. G. Wells * ''Boon'' (TV series), a British television series starring Michael Elphick * The Ultimate Boo ...

'' for ITV.Esta Charkham biography
thewirelessradio.com; accessed 22 March 2018. On leaving Central Television in 1988 Charkham joined Laurence Marks and

Maurice Gran Maurice Bernard Gran (born 26 October 1949, in London, England) is an English writer and one half of scriptwriting duo Marks and Gran. He co-wrote the sitcoms ''The New Statesman'', '' Birds of a Feather'' and '' Goodnight Sweetheart'' with La ...

in their independent production company ALOMO as managing director. For ALOMO Charkham developed and produced '' Birds of a Feather'' for the BBC, worked on '' Grown Ups'' and developed the long running series ''

Love Hurts "Love Hurts" is a song written and composed by the American songwriter Boudleaux Bryant. First recorded by the Everly Brothers in July 1960, the song is most well known from the 1974 international hit version by Scottish hard rock band Nazare ...

'' for the BBC; while for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

she worked on '' Nightingales''. For the BBC she produced '' Crown Prosecutor'' and the children's series '' No Sweat'' as well as ''

One Foot in the Grave ''One Foot in the Grave'' is a British television sitcom written by David Renwick. There were six series (each consisting of six half-hour shows) and seven Christmas specials over a period of ten years from early 1990 to late 2000. The first fi ...

'' – winning a

British Comedy Award The National Comedy Awards (known as the British Comedy Awards from 1990 to 2014) is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom, celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year. The British Comedy Awards ( ...

and being nominated for a BAFTA (1998), both for the latter. On leaving ALOMO she was a producer on ''

Medics A medic is a person involved in medicine such as a medical doctor, medical student, paramedic or an emergency medical responder. Among physicians in the UK, the term "medic" indicates someone who has followed a "medical" career path in postgrad ...

'' for ITV and ''Life After Life'' for

LWT London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...

. In the early 1990s she formed her own production company ETC (Esta's Television Company) with Michael Hobbs and made ''Shall We Gather at the River'' for

, starring

Beryl Reid Beryl Elizabeth Reid, (17 June 1919 – 13 October 1996), was a British actress of stage and screen. She won the 1967 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for ''The Killing of Sister George'', the 1980 Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performan ...

and

Rosemary Leach Rosemary Anne Leach (18 December 1935 – 21 October 2017) was a British stage, television and film actress. She won the 1982 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a New Play for ''84, Charing Cross Road'' and was nominated for the BAFTA Award fo ...

. She played Mrs P.C. Harold in the low-budget comedy horror film ''

I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle ''I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle'' is a 1990 British comedy horror film about a motorcycle possessed by an evil spirit, which rides by itself and kills people, particularly members of a particular motorcycle gang. It stars Neil Morrissey as th ...

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on the British Horror Films website/ref> and had a cameo role opposite Michael Elphick in the series ''Harry (UK TV series), Harry''. In 1996 she played The Best Casting Director in the World in the CBBC (TV channel), CBBC series ''Julia Jekyll and Harriet Hyde''. Also in the 1990s she presented ''Jewish London'' for BBC Radio London, standing in for

Vanessa Feltz Vanessa Jane Feltz is an English television personality, broadcaster, and journalist. She has appeared on various television shows, including ''Vanessa'' (1994–1998), ''The Big Breakfast'' (1996–1998), ''The Vanessa Show'' (1999), ''Celebr ...

for a few episodes and then became Show Business Gossip Reporter for

Simon Bates Simon Philip Bates (born 17 December 1946) is an English disc jockey and radio presenter. Between 1976 and 1993 he worked at BBC Radio 1, presenting the station's weekday mid-morning show for most of this period. He later became a regular pres ...

on his Breakfast Show at

Talk Radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featu ...

. Since 1980 she has worked with most of the leading drama schools including the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...

and the

Royal Central School of Speech & Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...

as a director of plays and showcases, as a teacher of contextual studies and Restoration comedy and professional practice. For several years she served on the

National Council for Drama Training The National Council for Drama Training (NCDT) was a partnership of employers in the theatre, broadcast and media industry, employee representatives and training providers from 1976 to 2012. History The National Council for Drama Training (NCDT ...

and was a Director of the National Youth Theatre from 1986 to 2012. Charkham was awarded an honorary degree from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in recognition of her work with students. She was the presenter for the radio series ''Showtunes'' on The Wireless for

Age UK Age UK is a registered charity in the United Kingdom, formed on 25 February 2009, and launched on 1 April 2009, which combined the operations of the previously separate charities Age Concern England and Help the Aged to form the UK's largest ch ...

from 2012 to 2016 and was one of the first Lady Barkers of the

Variety Club of Great Britain Variety, the Children's Charity is a charitable organization founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1927. History On October 10, 1927, a group of eleven men involved in show business set up a social club which they named the "Variety Club". On ...

. In 2020 Charkham played the casting director Georgina in an episode of ''

I Hate Suzie ''I Hate Suzie'' is a British dark comedy drama television series created by Lucy Prebble and Billie Piper. It was produced by Bad Wolf in association with Sky Studios, with Prebble serving as showrunner. All episodes were written by Prebbl ...

''.

References

External links

Charkham profile
imdb.com; accessed 22 March 2018. {{DEFAULTSORT:Charkham, Esta 1949 births Living people National Youth Theatre members 20th-century English actresses Jewish English actresses English television actresses English stage actresses English television producers BBC television producers English film producers British women television producers