Leonard Alfred Fulford (11 November 1928 – 27 November 2011) was a British

commercial photographer Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed i ...

and director, with a specialty for photography of

still life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...

. He was one of the founding members of BFCS. With studios in London, New York, Los Angeles and Milan, BFCS was one of the most successful commercial production companies of all time, winning the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

at the Cannes Advertising Festival an unprecedented six times. Fulford directed the popular ''

Go to work on an egg "Go to work on an egg" was an advertising slogan used by the United Kingdom's Egg Marketing Board during the 1950s and 1960s as part of more than £12 million it spent on advertising, including a series of television adverts starring the comedian T ...

'' television commercials for the

Egg Marketing Board The Egg Marketing Board was an agricultural marketing organization set up by the British government in December 1956 to stabilise the market for eggs due to a widespread collapse in sales. The Board purchased all the eggs produced in the UK, graded ...

during the 1960s. Fulford also directed many of the iconic Guinness television commercials of the 1970s and 1980s, along with other memorable spots like the Courage Best 'Rabbit Rabbit' commercial featuring the specially written song by Chas and Dave, and the iconic

Simple skincare Simple Skincare is a British brand of soap and skincare products designed for sensitive skin. Simple has been owned by Unilever since 2010. History The brand was developed in 1960 by the Albion Group. In the late 1980s the business was acquired b ...

commercial in which robotic arms spray a pristine white lily with colouring and perfume. His work earned him numerous awards and much recognition. The famous "

" television ad campaign which he directed earned him the nickname "the eggman" within the industry.

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

makes reference to Len as "the eggman" in

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

song "

I Am the Walrus "I Am the Walrus" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 television film ''Magical Mystery Tour''. Written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney, it was released as the B-side to the single "Hello, Goodbye" a ...

". Len Fulford retired in 1995 and resided in

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

. He died in

Friston Friston is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is southeast of Saxmundham, its post town, and northwest of Aldeburgh. The River Alde bounds the village on the south. The surrounding ...

, Suffolk, on 27 November 2011, at the age of 83. He is survived by three sons. His wife, the former Gillian Fox, whom he married in 1953, died in 2007.

References

External links

Campaign PaperBritish Film InstituteBritish Film Institute
1928 births 2011 deaths Television commercial directors British television directors Photographers from Suffolk People from Suffolk Coastal (district) Commercial photographers {{UK-photographer-stub