Robin Bextor (born 11 October 1953) is an English film and television producer and director. He is the father of the

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

singer

Sophie Ellis-Bextor Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor (born 10 April 1979) is an English singer and songwriter. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded Ellis-Bextor went solo and ach ...

. (Short biography of Robin Bextor on p.9)

Early life and education

After education at Shene Grammar School in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, England, and at the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

, he worked at the Dimbleby owned Richmond and Twickenham Times before joining

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...

and then the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Career

Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Forfar, (Edward Antony Richard Louis; born 10 March 1964) is a member of the British royal family. He is the youngest child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the youngest sibl ...

Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emperor of India from 20 January 19 ...

Ardent

Air The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing f ...

(See: Cast and Crew: Sanjay Kumar)

The Damned

The Stranglers The Stranglers are an English rock band who emerged via the punk rock scene. Scoring 23 UK top 40 singles and 19 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have origina ...

; and

UB40 UB40 are an English reggae and pop band, formed in December 1978 in Birmingham, England. The band has had more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. They have been nominated for the ...

. He directed the cult short film ''Norfolk Coast'', featuring

Susannah York Susannah Yolande Fletcher (9 January 1939 – 15 January 2011), known professionally as Susannah York, was an English actress. Her appearances in various films of the 1960s, including '' Tom Jones'' (1963) and '' They Shoot Horses, Don't They?'' ...

and

Jean Jacques Burnel Jean-Jacques Burnel (born 21 February 1952) is an English musician, producer and songwriter, best known as the bass guitarist and co-lead vocalist with the English rock band The Stranglers. He is the last founding member to remain in the band. ...

. He is majority shareholder of the Soho post production business Vivid, responsible for programmes on the England Football team, Test cricket and Fulham FC as well as many arts subjects. He has won the Columbus ("Chris") award for ''The British Schindler'', shown on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

in 2005, and a BAFTA. Robin also directed his daughter's DVD ''

Watch My Lips ''Watch My Lips'' is the first and only video release by British singer and songwriter Sophie Ellis-Bextor. It includes Ellis-Bextor's concert at the Shepherd's Bush Empire, as part of the Read My Lips Tour; '' Read My Lips''-era videos; Theaudi ...

''.He has been director of the Chichester Festival for five years and a trustee of the Brighton theatre company Dream, Think, Speak. Bextor has also had a successful career as a writer, writing for newspapers and magazines and the book to accompany the TV series ''Crown and Country''. The relationships built working with Paul McCartney and Eric Clapton over many years led to the publication of ''Paul McCartney Now & Then'' in 2004, and ''Eric Clapton Now & Then'' in 2006. He is also a director of Glyndebourne Productions in East Sussex. In 2013 he directed a six-part TV series on

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

with specials on the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original cast ...

and

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

. He also wrote The Story of the London Underground published that same year. (GU2) The following year he produced and directed Glyndebourne:the Untold History (90 mins) for BBC TV. He also wrote and directed a four-part music series The Sound of the 60's, and a book of the series published the same year. A second series The Sound of the 70's followed, as well as a series on Historic Hauntings. He has made films on 10cc (Clever Clogs), Squeeze, Cara Dillon French band AIR and The Feeling with Keifer Sutherland. He also was one of the founders alongside his daughter Sophie and son-in-law Richard Jones of the Meribel Music Festival in the French Alps called The Little World Festival.

Political activity

In the

2019 European Parliament Election The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...

in May 2019, Bextor was selected as a party list member for Change UK – The Independent Group in the South East England constituency of the United Kingdom. The party did not win any seats.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bextor, Robin 1953 births Living people Alumni of the University of Reading English television producers English film producers English film directors British music video directors People from Hammersmith Sophie Ellis-Bextor