Michael Simon White (16 January 1936 – 7 March 2016) was a British theatrical

impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. His ...

and

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

. White was responsible for 101 stage productions and 27 films over 50 years.

Early life

Michael White was born in Glasgow, Scotland, the son of Victor White, a merchant who ran a glove making business, and Doris (née Cohen), a property developer. His parents were from

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whi ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

backgrounds. As White suffered from

asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, co ...

as a boy, his parents decided he would be educated as a boarder at the Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

from age 7, where he was the only boy who did not speak the

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in N ...

. He then graduated from the Sorbonne in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

Career

After working as a

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for ...

runner in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in the 1950s, White took an interest in theatre, spending five years as assistant to Sir Peter Daubeny for his World Theatre seasons in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. White produced his first West End play, the London premiere of

Jack Gelber Jack Gelber (April 12, 1932 – May 9, 2003) was an American playwright best known for his 1959 drama '' The Connection'', depicting the life of drug-addicted jazz musicians. The first great success of the Living Theatre, the play was transl ...

's '' The Connection'' in 1961. Known for bringing the risqué to the stage his productions included ''

Sleuth Sleuth may refer to: *Detective *Sleuth, collective noun for a group of bears Computing * The Sleuth Kit, a collection of forensic analysis software *SLEUTH assembler language for the UNIVAC 1107 Entertainment and media *Cloo Cloo (stylized ...

'', '' Oh! Calcutta!'', ''

Two Gentlemen of Verona ''The Two Gentlemen of Verona'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1589 and 1593. It is considered by some to be Shakespeare's first play, and is often seen as showing his first tentative steps in laying ...

'' and the original Theatre Upstairs production of '' The Rocky Horror Show''. Concurrently, White produced films, including the film version of ''

The Rocky Horror Picture Show ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' is a 1975 Musical film, musical comedy horror film by 20th Century Fox, produced by Lou Adler and Michael White (producer), Michael White and directed by Jim Sharman. The screenplay was written by Sharman an ...

'' and ''

Monty Python and the Holy Grail ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' is a 1975 British comedy film satirizing the Arthurian legend, written and performed by the Monty Python comedy group ( Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Pa ...

'' (both 1975). Later, he was responsible for '' The Comic Strip Presents...'' with Peter Richardson, which began on the opening night 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 ...

in 1982. However, losses on films mounted, and he was declared

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

in 2005 after suffering a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

at the Mondrian Hotel in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

Media

White's autobiography, ''Empty Seats'', was published in 1985. White's life story was the subject of the 2013 documentary film '' The Last Impresario'', directed by

Gracie Otto Gracie Otto is an Australian filmmaker and actor. She made her feature-length directing debut with the 2013 documentary '' The Last Impresario'' about prolific British theatre impresario and film producer Michael White. She has also directed a ...

. The film made its world premiere at the

BFI London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shor ...

in October 2013, where it was positively received by critics.

Personal life

White was married twice. With his first wife, the 1960s model and designer Sarah Hillsdon (1965-1972), he had three children. In 1985, he married Louise Moores, 26 years his junior, daughter of John Moores, of the family that owned the

Littlewoods Littlewoods was a retail and football betting company founded in Liverpool, England, by John Moores in 1923. By the 1980s, it had grown to become the largest private company in Europe, but subsequently declined in the face of increased com ...

pools, mail order and retail group; they had a son. White died on 7 March 2016 of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...

, aged 80.

Selected theatrical productions

This list is incomplete, currently listing only White's most notable theatre works:

Musicals

As producer: * '' Oh! Calcutta!'' (1970, West End) * ''

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' (often colloquially known as ''Joseph'') is a sung-through musical with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. ...

'' (1973, West End) * '' The Rocky Horror Show'' (1973, West End) * ''

'' (1973, West End) * '' A Chorus Line'' (1976, West End) * '' Annie'' (1978, West End) * ''

She Loves Me ''She Loves Me'' is a musical with a book by Joe Masteroff, music by Jerry Bock, and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. The musical is the third adaptation of the 1937 play '' Parfumerie'' by Hungarian playwright Miklós László, following the 1940 ...

'' (1994, West End revival)

Plays

As producer: * ''

'' (1971, Broadway) * ''

City Sugar ''City Sugar'' is a stage play by Stephen Poliakoff. It was originally staged at the Bush Theatre in 1975 and directed by Hugh Thomas. ''City Sugar''’s cast was led by John Shrapnel as Leonard Brazil and supported by Leon Vitali and Lynne Mill ...

'' (1978)

Filmography

As producer or executive producer: * ''

'' (1974) * ''

'' (1975) * '' Jabberwocky'' (1977) * ''

The Hound of the Baskervilles ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' is the third of the four crime novels by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serialised in ''The Strand Magazine'' from August 1901 to April 1902, it is set ...

'' (1978) * ''Going with the Wind'' (1981) * '' My Dinner With Andre'' (1981) * ''

Polyester Polyester is a category of polymers that contain the ester functional group in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include natura ...

'' (1981) * '' Shock Treatment'' (1981) * '' Countryman'' (1982) * ''

Moonlighting Moonlighting may refer to: * Side job, a job taken in addition to one's primary employment Entertainment * ''Moonlighting'' (film), a 1982 drama film by Jerzy Skolimowski * ''Moonlighting'' (TV series), 1985–1989 American television series, s ...

'' (1982) * '' Urgh! A Music War'' (1982) * '' The Comic Strip Presents...'' (1982) * '' Dead on Time'' (1983) * '' Heat and Dust'' (1983) * ''

The Ploughman's Lunch ''The Ploughman's Lunch'' is a 1983 British drama film written by Ian McEwan and directed by Richard Eyre which features Jonathan Pryce, Tim Curry, and Rosemary Harris. The film looks at the media world in Margaret Thatcher's Britain around th ...

'' (1983) * ''

Strangers Kiss ''Strangers Kiss'' is a 1983 American drama film directed by Matthew Chapman, and starring Peter Coyote, Victoria Tennant, Dan Shor and Blaine Novak. The screenplay by Chapman and Novak documents the behind-the-scenes of Stanley Kubrick's secon ...

'' (1983) * '' The Supergrass'' (1985) * '' High Season'' (1987) * '' Eat the Rich'' (1987) * '' White Mischief'' (1987) * '' The Deceivers'' (1988) * '' Nuns on the Run'' (1989) * ''

The Pope Must Die ''The Pope Must Die'' (alternative known title as ''The Pope Must Diet!'' in the United States and Canada) is a 1991 British Catholic Church comedy film directed by Peter Richardson, who also wrote the screenplay with Pete Richens derived from ...

'' (1991) * ''Robert's Movie'' (1994) * '' Widows' Peak'' (1994) * '' Enigma'' (2001) Appearing as himself: * '' The Last Impresario'' (2013)

References

External links

* *
Obituary
in

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

by Marcus Williamson {{DEFAULTSORT:White, Michael 1936 births 2016 deaths Theatre people from Glasgow Scottish people of Jewish descent University of Paris alumni Impresarios Scottish theatre managers and producers Scottish film producers Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery 20th-century Scottish businesspeople