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Sir Jeremy Israel Isaacs (born 28 September 1932) is a Scottish television producer and executive, opera manager, and a recipient of many
British Academy Television Awards The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the BAFTA. They have been awarded annually since 1955. Background The first-ever Awards, given in 1955, consisted of six categories. Until ...
and
International Emmy Awards The International Emmy Awards, or International Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based International Academy of Television Arts and ...
. He won the
British Film Institute Fellowship The British Film Institute (BFI) is a charitable organisation established in 1933, based in the United Kingdom. It has awarded its Fellowship title to individuals in "recognition of their outstanding contribution to film or television culture" an ...
in 1986, the
International Emmy Directorate Award The International Emmy Directorate Award is presented by the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and honors individuals or organizations for their outstanding contribution to international television. The award ceremony has taken ...
in 1987 and the BAFTA Fellowship in 1985. He was also the General Director of the
Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal ...
,
Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...
from 1987 to 1996. Isaacs was
knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...
in the 1996 Birthday Honours "for services to Broadcasting and to the Arts."


Early life

Isaacs was born in
Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...
from what were described as "Scottish Jewish roots". He grew up in Hillhead, the son of a jeweller and a GP, and is a cousin to virologist
Alick Isaacs Alick Isaacs FRS (17 July 1921 – 26 January 1967) was a Scottish virologist. Background and early life Isaacs's Jewish paternal grandparents came from Lithuania to escape oppression, and took the surname Isaacs. Alick's father Louis was born ...
. He was educated at the independent Glasgow Academy and
Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ...
, where he read
Classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
. He did his National Service in the Highland Light Infantry.


Television career

Isaacs began his career in television when he joined
Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was its ...
in
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...
as a producer in 1958. At Granada he was involved in creating or supervising series such as ''
World in Action ''World in Action'' was a British investigative current affairs programme made by Granada Television for ITV from 7 January 1963 until 7 December 1998. Its campaigning journalism frequently had a major impact on events of the day. Its product ...
'' and '' What the Papers Say''. He has worked for the BBC (on ''
Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word was originally coined i ...
'') in the 1960s and was the overall producer for the 26-episode series '' The World at War'' (1973–74) for
Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...
. He was Director of Programmes for Thames between 1974 and 1978. Later, he produced ''Ireland: A Television History'' (1981) for the BBC and co-produced the twenty-four episode
television documentary Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. *Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...
series ''Cold War'' (1998)cnn.com/ColdWar
at
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
and the ten-part series ''Millennium'' (1999).


Channel 4

Isaacs was the founding chief executive of
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 ...
between 1981 and 1987, overseeing its launch period and setting the channel's original cultural approach with opera and foreign language film, although such programmes as the pop music series '' The Tube'' and
soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio drama ...
'' Brookside'' had a place in the schedule from the beginning. The channel commissioned Michael Elliott's production of ''
King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane a ...
'' (1983) with
Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage ...
in the title role and Isaacs recommissioned a number of programmes from his time at Granada including ''What the Papers Say''. His appointment of
David Rose David Rose may refer to: Business * David Rose (real estate developer) (1892–1986), American real estate developer and philanthropist * David L. Rose (born 1967), American business executive and scientist at MIT Media Lab * David S. Rose (bor ...
, previously long with the BBC, as the Commissioning Editor for Fiction led to the Channel's involvement with the eighties revival of the British film industry via the
Film on Four Film4 is a British free-to-air television network owned by Channel Four Television Corporation launched on 1 November 1998, devoted to broadcasting films. While its standard-definition channel is available on Freeview and Freesat platforms, i ...
strand. Despite a general liberal atmosphere, a few commissioned programmes, such as Ken Loach's ''A Question of Leadership'', were withdrawn from transmission. In 1989, Isaacs named twenty-six personal favourites from his tenure as Channel 4's chief executive, running from A (the discussion series '' After Dark'') to Z (a four-hour dramatisation of a Gothic horror novel, '' Zastrozzi''). When handing over responsibility for running the channel to Michael Grade, Isaacs threatened to throttle him if he betrayed the trust placed in him to respect the channel's remit.


Later career

After leaving Channel 4 at the end of 1987,"Screen: Buzz", ''The Sunday Times'', 3 January 1988 and having failed to be appointed Director General of the BBC, Isaacs became General Director of the
Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal ...
,
Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...
, a role he fulfilled until 1996. This was a difficult period for the ROH, which was not helped by the broadcast of the revealing '' The House'' (1996) documentary series on BBC2. From 1989 to 1998, Isaacs was the interviewer in a revival of the BBC series '' Face to Face''; the former politician and journalist John Freeman had filled this role in the original 1959–62 run.
Ted Turner Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and philanthropist. He founded the Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he ...
sought out Isaacs (confusing him with the actor Jeremy Irons) for the role of executive producer for the 24-episode ''
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...
'' (1998) series. Between 1997 and 2000, Isaacs was president of the
Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...
. He was also chairman of
Artsworld Sky Arts (originally launched as Artsworld) is a British free-to-air television channel offering 24 hours a day of programmes dedicated to highbrow arts, including theatrical performances, movies, documentaries and music (such as opera perfor ...
before it was sold to Sky.


Publications

* ''Storm Over 4: A Personal Account'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1989 * ''Never Mind the Moon'', Bantam Press, 1999 * ''Look Me in the Eye: A Life in Television'', Little, Brown, 2006 * ''Cold War'' (In collaboration with Taylor Downing), Bantam Press, 1998


References


External links

*
Cold War: About the Series
at CNN.com

Retrieved 3 March 2008 * ttps://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1999/nov/05/features11.g23 Sabine Durrant (interview with Isaacs), "It hurts, it hurts, it hurts", ''The Guardian'' (London), 5 November 1999Retrieved 3 March 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Isaacs, Jeremy 1932 births Alumni of Merton College, Oxford BAFTA fellows British arts administrators Channel 4 people Highland Light Infantry soldiers International Emmy Directorate Award Knights Bachelor Living people Opera managers People associated with the University of East Anglia People educated at the Glasgow Academy People from Hillhead Presidents of the Oxford Union Royal Opera House Scottish Jews Scottish people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Scottish television executives The World at War Fellows of Merton College, Oxford 20th-century British Army personnel