Michael John Whitehall (born 12 April 1940) is an English author, producer, talent agent and television personality. He is a former

theatrical agent A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, and other professionals in various entertainment or sport ...

who went on to form two production companies, Havahall Pictures (with

Nigel Havers Nigel Allan Havers (born 6 November 1951) is an English actor. His film roles include Lord Andrew Lindsay in the 1981 British film ''Chariots of Fire'', which earned him a BAFTA nomination; as Dr. Rawlins in the 1987 Steven Spielberg war drama ...

) in 1988, and Whitehall Films in 1998. He has represented

Colin Firth Colin Andrew Firth (born 10 September 1960) is an English actor and producer. He was identified in the mid-1980s with the " Brit Pack" of rising young British actors, undertaking a challenging series of roles, including leading roles in '' A M ...

and

Dame Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...

. He is the father of comedian and actor

Jack Whitehall Jack Peter Benedict Whitehall (born 7 July 1988) is an English comedian, actor, presenter and writer. He is known for starring as JP in the series ''Fresh Meat (TV series), Fresh Meat'' (2011–2016) and Alfie Wickers in the series ''Bad Educat ...

Early life and education

Whitehall was born on 12 April 1940 in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. He was educated at

Ampleforth College Ampleforth College is a co-educational independent day and boarding school in the English public school tradition located in the village of Ampleforth, North Yorkshire, England. It opened in 1802 as a boys' school, it is situated in the groun ...

, a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

boarding school in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, run by

Benedictine monks The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict ( la, Ordo Sancti Benedicti, abbreviated as OSB), are a Christian monasticism, monastic Religious order (Catholic), religious order of the Catholic Church following the Rule of Saint Benedic ...

. After his education, Whitehall worked as a film reporter for ''The Universe'', a weekly Catholic newspaper. Both his father and grandfather were commercial travellers. His education was paid for by his grandfather, who had inherited significant wealth from his cousin, a wool merchant.

Career

Whitehall has produced TV programmes such as ''

Bertie and Elizabeth ''Bertie & Elizabeth'' is a 2002 television film directed by Giles Foster and produced by Carlton Television. The film explores the relationship between King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth from their first meeting to the King's death i ...

'', ''

Noah's Ark Noah's Ark ( he, תיבת נח; Biblical Hebrew: ''Tevat Noaḥ'')The word "ark" in modern English comes from Old English ''aerca'', meaning a chest or box. (See Cresswell 2010, p.22) The Hebrew word for the vessel, ''teva'', occurs twice in t ...

'', ''

Element of Doubt ''Element of Doubt'' is a 1996 British thriller television film directed by Christopher Morahan and starring Gina McKee and Nigel Havers. Plot A seemingly perfect couple begin to dispute when they should have children and their relationship ra ...

'', '' The Good Guys'' and ''

A Perfect Hero ''A Perfect Hero'' is a 1991 TV drama serial set in World War II England. It was produced by Havahall Pictures in association with LWT for ITV and first broadcast at 9:00pm on Friday 17 May 1991 and ran for six episodes. It was broadcast in th ...

''. He represented Judi Dench, Colin Firth, Richard E. Grant, and

Leslie Grantham Leslie Michael Grantham (30 April 1947 – 15 June 2018) was an English actor, best known for his role as "Dirty" Den Watts in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. He was a convicted murderer, having served 10 years for the killing of a West Germ ...

. He has made guest appearances on various television shows including ''

Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...

'', ''

John Bishop's Britain ''John Bishop's Britain'' was a British television programme presented by comedian John Bishop. Each programme had a theme, for example food. It featured stand-up, sketches and real-life stories from celebrity guests and members of the public on ...

'', ''

The Million Pound Drop Live ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', '' Alexander Armstrong's Big Ask'' and '' Alan Carr: Chatty Man''. In 2013, it was announced that he would present a TV chat show for the BBC with his son Jack. The first series of '' Backchat'' began airing on

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...

, starting on 20 November 2013 but has since moved to

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

. In 2017, he co-presented '' Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Father'', a travel documentary/

road trip A road trip, sometimes spelled roadtrip, is a long-distance journey on the road. Typically, road trips are long distances travelled by automobile. History First road trips by automobile The world's first recorded long-distance road trip by t ...

through Southeast Asia with his son on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

. In 2018, ''Travels'' had a second series where they visited several countries in Eastern Europe. In 2019, Travels had a third, two-episode series where they visited, California, Arizona, and Nevada in the USA. In 2020, Travels had a fourth, two-episode series where they visited Australia. In 2021, Travels has a fifth, three-episode series where they traveled around the U.K. This series would go on to be the final series of the show. In 2019, Michael appeared in the programme

Who Do You Think You Are? (UK TV series) ''Who Do You Think You Are?'' is a British genealogy documentary series that has aired on the BBC since 2004, in which celebrity participants trace their family history. It is made by the production company Wall to Wall. The programme has reg ...

along with his son Jack to discover his heritage. Whitehall's first book was ''Shark Infested Waters: Tales of an Actors' Agent'', and his son Jack illustrated it. ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication i ...

'' (TLS) called the book "a most entertaining memoir" that was "wittily illustrated". In October 2013, he released his second book ''Him & Me'', which was co-written with his son. Written in two distinctive styles, it reflects the different personalities of its authors.

Personal life

Whitehall married Jane McIntosh in 1969. After their divorce in 1973, McIntosh married lyricist

Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ' ...

. Whitehall married television actress Hilary Amanda Jane Isbister (stage surname Gish) on 12 April 1986, Whitehall's 46th birthday. As of 2013, Whitehall and Isbister were living in

Putney Putney () is a district of southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ancient paris ...

in the London Borough of

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan The London Plan is the statutory spatial development strategy for the Gre ...

. They have three children together:

(born 1988), Molly (born 1989) and Barnaby (born 1992). Whitehall is a supporter of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

Books

* ''Shark Infested Waters: Tales of an Actors' Agent'' (Timewell Press, 2007) * ''Him & Me'' by Michael and Jack Whitehall (Michael Joseph, 2013) * ''Backing into the Spotlight: A Memoir'' (Constable, 2017)

Filmography

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehall, Michael 1940 births Living people English talent agents English television personalities English television producers People educated at Ampleforth College Place of birth missing (living people)