John Heyman (27 April 1933
– 9 June 2017) was a British
film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
and
TV producer
A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon a ...
also involved in television production, consulting, and film financing.
Early life and family
Heyman was born in
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
to German-Jewish parents. His father, an economist and broadcaster who opposed
Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...
, fled Germany on 30 January 1933. The seven-month-old John and his mother joined him that November in London, where his father had secured work as a journalist on the now defunct ''
News Chronicle
The ''News Chronicle'' was a British daily newspaper. Formed by the merger of '' The Daily News'' and the ''Daily Chronicle'' in 1930, it ceased publication on 17 October 1960,''Liberal Democrat News'' 15 October 2010, accessed 15 October 2010 be ...
''. During World War II, his father worked for the
Ministry of Information and was
naturalised
Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the i ...
British in the national interest. After the war he was the financial correspondent for ''
The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...
'', The ''Times'' of London, and ''
Neue Zürcher Zeitung
The ''Neue Zürcher Zeitung'' (''NZZ''; "New Journal of Zürich") is a Swiss, German-language daily newspaper, published by NZZ Mediengruppe in Zürich. The paper was founded in 1780. It was described as having a reputation as a high-quality ne ...
''. He died at his typewriter putting the final 'full stop' on a leader column for the ''Times'', which was published two days after his death. John's mother, an avid
suffragette
A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...
, was both a teacher of Russian studies and a permanent student, collecting her seventh degree (in Economics) from the
London School of Economics
, mottoeng = To understand the causes of things
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £240.8 million (2021)
, budget = £391.1 millio ...
at the age of 70.
Education and early career
Heyman was educated at Norfolk House in London,
Wycliffe College
Wycliffe College () is an evangelical graduate school of theology at the University of Toronto. Founded in 1877 as an evangelical seminary in the Anglican tradition, Wycliffe College today attracts students from many Christian denominations from ...
in Gloucestershire, and finally at
St. Edmund Hall, Oxford.
After two years of National Service in the Army, Heyman returned to Oxford to read law. During a summer vacation, he obtained free tickets to a
Radio Luxembourg
Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg).
The English-language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earlies ...
show. Having been chosen as a contestant he won £93, more money than he thought existed in the world, and he returned to Oxford as the question writer for the show ''
Double Your Money
''Double Your Money'' was a British quiz show hosted by Hughie Green. Originally broadcast on Radio Luxembourg since 1950 and based on the American radio quiz '' Take It Or Leave It'' (1940–1947), it transferred to ITV in September 1955, a fe ...
'', which would run in the top ten for thirteen years on the new
Independent Television Network
Independent Television Network Ltd ( si, ස්වාධීන රූපවාහිනී මාධ්ය ජාලය; ta, சுயாதீன தொலைக்காட்சி ஊடக வளையமைப்பு) also known a ...
in England. He also sold a number of other television concepts. In 1955 Heyman started full-time work in the entertainment industry and by the age of 22 was head of public relations at
Associated Television
Associated Television was the original name of the British broadcaster ATV, part of the Independent Television (ITV) network. It provided a service to London at weekends from 1955 to 1968, to the Midlands on weekdays from 1956 to 1968, and ...
, one of the two founder companies of the ITV. By then he was working on five of the network's television programmes, three of which were rated among ITV's top ten.
In 1959 Heyman formed ''The International Artists Agency'', which represented, among others,
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...
,
Richard Burton
Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable pe ...
,
Richard Harris
Richard St John Francis Harris (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002) was an Irish actor and singer. He appeared on stage and in many films, notably as Corrado Zeller in Michelangelo Antonioni's '' Red Desert'', Frank Machin in ''This Sporting ...
,
Laurence Harvey
Laurence Harvey (born Zvi Mosheh Skikne; 1 October 192825 November 1973) was a Lithuanian-born British actor and film director. He was born to Lithuanian Jewish parents and emigrated to South Africa at an early age, before later settling in th ...
,
Trevor Howard
Trevor Wallace Howard-Smith (29 September 1913 – 7 January 1988) was an English stage, film, and television actor. After varied work in the theatre, he achieved star status with his role in the film ''Brief Encounter'' (1945), followed by ''T ...
,
Shirley Bassey
Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey (; born 8 January 1937) is a Welsh singer. Best known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the theme songs to three James Bond films, Bassey is widely regarded as one of the most popular vocalists ...
, and
Burt Bacharach
Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gra ...
.
In 1961 the agency formed the subsidiary ''World Film Sales'', the first company to pre-sell and license pictures on a territory-by-territory basis. ''World Film Sales'' was sold to
ITC in 1973. It was the first of a series of companies which would become the World Group of Companies Limited. For over 40 years, the company and its executives have been producers, packagers, co-financiers, investors, or distributors of films that have garnered numerous awards, including more than 150 Academy Award nominations and more than two dozen Oscars.
Career
In 1963, Heyman started to work as a film producer and had over his lifetime produced some 15 films,
among them ''
The Go-Between
''The Go-Between'' is a novel by L. P. Hartley published in 1953. His best-known work, it has been adapted several times for stage and screen. The book gives a critical view of society at the end of the Victorian era through the eyes of a naïv ...
'' and ''
The Hireling
''The Hireling'' is a 1973 British drama film directed by Alan Bridges, based on a 1957 novel of the same title by L. P. Hartley, which starred Robert Shaw and Sarah Miles. It tells the story of a chauffeur who falls in love with an aristocrat ...
'', which both won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival. He co-financed a further 150 films. In 1964 he also co-produced the longest running ''
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
'' in Broadway history, starring
Richard Burton
Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable pe ...
and directed by
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Briti ...
. In 1965 Heyman produced ''
'', starring
Hermione Gingold
Hermione Ferdinanda Gingold (; 9 December 189724 May 1987) was an English actress known for her sharp-tongued, eccentric character.
Her signature drawling, deep voice was a result of nodules on her vocal cords she developed in the 1920s and e ...
in London's West End.
In 1973, he founded ''The Genesis Project'' to create an audio-visual encyclopaedia, atlas, and dictionary. It commenced translating the Bible onto film accompanied by a variety of educational materials. After completing the filming of ''Genesis'' and the ''Gospel of Luke'' (which, under the title ''
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
'', became the most viewed film in history), ''The New Media Bible'' was sold to an evangelical organisation, having failed commercially in the age before VHS or DVD.
In the early 1970s, Heyman began to render financial services to major film studios, and is widely credited with creating "structured financing" in the film industry. As a result of his efforts, some $4 billion has been provided to co-finance more than 150 films and television programs, including ''
Awakenings
''Awakenings'' is a 1990 American drama film directed by Penny Marshall. It is written by Steven Zaillian, who based his screenplay on Oliver Sacks's 1973 memoir ''Awakenings''. It tells the story of neurologist Dr. Malcolm Sayer (Robin Williams ...
'' (Columbia), ''
Black Rain'' (Paramount), ''
Chinatown
A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
'' (Paramount), ''
Edward Scissorhands
''Edward Scissorhands'' is a 1990 American fantasy romance film directed by Tim Burton. It was produced by Burton and Denise Di Novi, written by Caroline Thompson from a story by her and Burton, and starring Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Anthony Mi ...
'' (Fox), ''
Grease'' (Paramount), ''
Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan'' (Warner), ''
Heaven Can Wait'' (Paramount), ''
Home Alone
''Home Alone'' is a 1990 American Christmas comedy film directed by Chris Columbus and written and produced by John Hughes. The first film in the ''Home Alone'' franchise, the film stars Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Hear ...
'' (Fox), ''
Looking For Mr Goodbar'' (Paramount), ''
The Man Who Would Be King
"The Man Who Would Be King" (1888) is a story by Rudyard Kipling about two British adventurers in British India who become kings of Kafiristan, a remote part of Afghanistan. The story was first published in '' The Phantom Rickshaw and other Ee ...
'' (Allied Artists), ''
Marathon Man'' (Paramount), ''
The Odessa File
''The Odessa File'' is a thriller by English writer Frederick Forsyth, first published in 1972, about the adventures of a young German reporter attempting to discover the location of a former SS concentration-camp commander.
The name ODESSA is ...
'' (Columbia), ''
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' is a 1975 musical comedy horror film by 20th Century Fox, produced by Lou Adler and Michael White and directed by Jim Sharman. The screenplay was written by Sharman and actor Richard O'Brien, who is also ...
'' (Fox), ''
Saturday Night Fever
''Saturday Night Fever'' is a 1977 American dance drama film directed by John Badham and produced by Robert Stigwood. It stars John Travolta as Tony Manero, a young Italian-American man from the Brooklyn borough of New York. Manero spends his ...
'' (Paramount), ''
Star Trek: The Motion Picture'' (Paramount), ''
Trail of the Pink Panther
A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. T ...
'' (MGM), and ''
Victor/Victoria
''Victor/Victoria'' is a 1982 musical comedy film written and directed by Blake Edwards and starring Julie Andrews, James Garner, Robert Preston, Lesley Ann Warren, Alex Karras, and John Rhys-Davies. The film was produced by Tony Adams and sco ...
'' (MGM).
In 1990 Heyman co-founded ''Island World'', which produced and licensed film and television programs, including ''
The Cure
The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith has re ...
'' (Universal), ''
Eddie
Eddie or Eddy may refer to:
Science and technology
*Eddy (fluid dynamics), the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle
* Eddie (text editor), a text editor originally for BeOS and now ported to Lin ...
'' (Disney), ''
Juice
Juice is a drink made from the extraction or Cold-pressed juice, pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat ...
'' (Paramount), ''
The Sandlot
''The Sandlot'' (released in some countries as ''The Sandlot Kids'') is a 1993 American coming-of-age sports comedy film co-written, directed, and narrated by David Mickey Evans
David Mickey Evans (born October 20, 1962) is an American film d ...
'' (Fox), ''
Toy Soldiers
A toy soldier is a miniature figurine that represents a soldier. The term applies to depictions of uniformed military personnel from all eras, and includes knights, cowboys, American Indians, pirates, samurai, and other subjects that involve c ...
'' (Tri-Star), ''
Airheads
''Airheads'' is a 1994 American comedy film written by Rich Wilkes, directed by Michael Lehmann, and starring Brendan Fraser, Steve Buscemi, Adam Sandler, Chris Farley, Ernie Hudson, Michael McKean, Judd Nelson, Michael Richards, Amy Locane and ...
'' (Fox), and ''
The War'' (Universal). ''Island World'' was sold to ''
PolyGram
PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...
'' at the end of 1994, but Heyman retained control of the London television production company ''World Productions Limited''. It became an active provider of British television programming in partnership with
Tony Garnett
Tony Garnett (3 April 1936 – 12 January 2020) was a British film and television producer, and actor. Best known for his thirteen-year association with director Ken Loach, his work as a producer continued into the 21st century.
Early life and ...
, and was the only company to have had programs airing on all five UK terrestrial channels in the same year. The company received a special award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts "acknowledging the nurturing of a whole new generation of writers, actors and producers and in bringing new blood and new talent into the industry." The company was sold in 2012.
Heyman's World Group of Companies Limited continues to actively produce and co-finance films and television shows. At the time of his death, he was in pre-production on a number of projects including a Sino-Italian co-production of a 12-hour mini-series titled ''The Forbidden City'', a film titled ''The Silk Road'', and television projects, including ''You the Jury'', ''Forbidden Lovers'', and a contemporary drama based on modern versions of the biblical Parables and Proverbs.
Personal life and death
In 1960, Heyman married actress
Norma Pownall. They had two children, including
David Heyman
David Jonathan Heyman (born 26 July 1961) is a British film producer and the founder of Heyday Films. Heyman secured the rights to the ''Harry Potter'' film series in 1999 and went on to produce all eight installments of the franchise. He als ...
, who became a producer. They divorced in the 1960s after his affair with actress
Joanna Shimkus
Joanna Marie Poitier ( Shimkus; born 30 October 1943) is a Canadian film actress. She is the widow of actor Sidney Poitier and mother of actress Sydney Tamiia Poitier.
Early life
Joanna Marie Shimkus was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Jose ...
. He was married to Nizza Heyman from 1982 until his death; they had two children together.
Heyman died on 9 June 2017 at the age of 84.
Producer John Heyman Has Died At Age 84
/ref>
Selected filmography
''He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.''
Film
;Miscellaneous crew
;Thanks
Television
;Miscellaneous crew
;Thanks
References
External links
World Productions
IMDB Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heyman, John
1933 births
2017 deaths
Alumni of St Edmund Hall, Oxford
British people of German-Jewish descent
English film producers
Converts to Christianity from Judaism
People educated at Wycliffe College, Gloucestershire
20th-century English businesspeople