Nik Powell (4 November 1950 – 7 November 2019) was a
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
businessman and one of the co-founders of
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...
with
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields.
Branson expressed ...
. After operating a mail-order company, a small record shop, and a recording studio, the partners established the label in 1972. It became one of the UK's major recording labels until its sale to
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...
in 1992.
Biography
Born in
Great Kingshill
Great Kingshill is a small village in the parish of Hughenden in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located in the Chiltern Hills, about five miles west of Amersham and two and a half miles south of Great Missenden.
The village name 'Kingshill' ...
, Buckinghamshire, England, Powell was educated first at Longacre School,
Shamley Green
Wonersh is a village and civil parish in the Waverley district of Surrey, England and Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Wonersh contains three Conservation Areas and spans an area three to six miles SSE of Guildford. In th ...
,
Guildford
Guildford ()
is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...
, Surrey, moving when he was seven to a small Catholic preparatory school, St. Richard's in Little Malvern, outside
Malvern
Malvern or Malverne may refer to:
Places Australia
* Malvern, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide
* Malvern, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne
* City of Malvern, a former local government area near Melbourne
* Electoral district of Malvern, an e ...
. From there he went to
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 ...
, North Yorkshire, and subsequently spent a year at the
University of Sussex
, mottoeng = Be Still and Know
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £14.4 million (2020)
, budget = £319.6 million (2019–20)
, chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar
, vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil
, ...
.
In 1983, Powell and
Stephen Woolley founded Palace Productions, which produced ''
The Company of Wolves
''The Company of Wolves'' is a 1984 British gothic fantasy horror film directed by Neil Jordan and starring Angela Lansbury, David Warner, Micha Bergese and Sarah Patterson in her film debut. The screenplay was written by Jordan and Angela Car ...
'' (1984), ''
Mona Lisa
The ''Mona Lisa'' ( ; it, Gioconda or ; french: Joconde ) is a half-length portrait painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described as "the best known ...
'' (1986), and ''
The Crying Game
''The Crying Game'' is a 1992 thriller film written and directed by Neil Jordan, produced by Stephen Woolley, and starring Stephen Rea, Miranda Richardson, Jaye Davidson, Adrian Dunbar, Ralph Brown, and Forest Whitaker. The film explores the ...
'' (1992). After presiding over the 1992 collapse of the company, Powell re-established himself in the film industry with Scala Productions and produced ''
Fever Pitch
''Fever Pitch: A Fan's Life'' is a 1992 autobiographical essay by British author Nick Hornby. The book is the basis for two films: '' Fever Pitch'' (1997, UK) and '' Fever Pitch'' (2005, U.S.). The first edition was subtitled "A Fan's Life", bu ...
'' (1997), ''
Twenty Four Seven'' (also 1997), ''
B. Monkey
''B. Monkey'' is a British-American 1998 crime drama film directed by Michael Radford. Originally, Michael Caton-Jones was attached to direct the adaptation of the homonymous 1992 book by Andrew Davies, but left over creative differences. Asia ...
'' (1998), ''
Last Orders
''Last Orders'' is a 1996 novel by British writer Graham Swift. The book won the 1996 Booker Prize. In 2001, it was adapted for the film ''Last Orders (film), Last Orders'' by Australian writer and director Fred Schepisi.
Plot
The story makes ...
'' (2001), and ''
Ladies in Lavender
''Ladies in Lavender'' is a 2004 British drama film written and directed by Charles Dance. The screenplay is based on a 1908 short story by William J. Locke. The film stars Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Natascha McElhone, and Miriam Margolyes.
Plot ...
'' (2004).
Powell was director of the
National Film and Television School from 2003 to 2017 in England while maintaining his position as chairman of Scala Productions.
Personal life
Powell's marriage to
Merrill Tomassi, the sister of
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields.
Branson expressed ...
's first wife, ended in divorce. He then married singer
Sandie Shaw Sandie may refer to:
__NOTOC__ People
* Sandie Clair (born 1988), French professional racing cyclist
* Sandie Fitzgibbon, Irish former camogie player
* Sandie Jones (1950/1951–2019), Irish singer
* Sandie Lindsay, 1st Baron Lindsay of Birker (1879 ...
and helped relaunch her career. They had two children, Amie and Jack, before divorcing in the early 1990s.
Powell died on 7 November 2019 in
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, aged 69; he had been receiving treatment for
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
.
References
External links
*
1950 births
2019 deaths
European Film Awards winners (people)
British businesspeople
People from Surrey
Virgin Group people
{{UK-business-bio-1950s-stub