Stella Richman (9 November 1922 – 24 May 2002) was a British television producer.

Biography

Originally an actress—she had a

bit part In acting, a bit part is a role in which there is direct interaction with the principal actors and no more than five lines of dialogue, often referred to as a five-or-less or under-five in the United States, or under sixes in British television, ...

in the second episode of ''

The Quatermass Experiment ''The Quatermass Experiment'' is a British science fiction serial broadcast by BBC Television during the summer of 1953 and re-staged by BBC Four in 2005. Set in the near future against the background of a British space programme, it tells th ...

'' in 1953—Richman was appointed as a script editor of single plays at ATV by

Lew Grade Lew Grade, Baron Grade, (born Lev Winogradsky; 25 December 1906 – 13 December 1998) was a British media proprietor and impresario. Originally a dancer, and later a talent agent, Grade's interest in television production began in 1954 ...

in 1960.Philip Purse
Obituary: Stella Richman
''The Guardian'', 31 May 2002 Grade's sole condition was that her commissions did not gain disastrous ratings. According to

Frederic Raphael Frederic Michael Raphael (born 14 August 1931) is an American-British BAFTA and Academy Award winning screenwriter, biographer, nonfiction writer, novelist and journalist. Early life Raphael was born in Chicago, to an American Jewish mother f ...

, "Richman proved, by her demanding eclecticism, that quality was not the enemy of popularity. Since there could (and can) be no rules for what the public liked, she assumed that, if she gave them the best work she could find, they would like that." In particular, she was responsible for overseeing the '' Love Story'' anthology series in its early years. Moving to

Associated Rediffusion Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the United Kingdom, British ITV (TV network), ITV franchise holder for Greater London, London and parts of Home counties, the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 22 September 1955 an ...

around 1964, she became their Head of Series, and created a genre which critic

Philip Purser Philip John Purser (28 August 1925 – 1 August 2022) was a British television critic and novelist. Life and career Purser was born in Letchworth, Hertfordshire on 28 August 1925. His mother had been the first female student of an art school ...

termed 'Our Story'. At the new

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 unt ...

, she oversaw a six-part series of television plays, ''The Company of Five'' (1968), which featured a central group of five actors. The series featured works by

Leon Griffiths Leon Griffiths (15 February 1928 – 10 June 1992) was a British writer who worked in television and film. He is best known for being the creator of the ITV (TV network), ITV comedy-drama ''Minder (TV series), Minder'', which followed the exploits ...

Roy Minton Roy Minton (born in Nottingham, England) is an English playwright best known for '' Scum'' and his other work with Alan Clarke. He is notable for having written over 30 one-off scripts for London Weekend Television, Rediffusion, BBC, ATV, Gran ...

Alun Owen Alun Davies Owen (24 November 1925 – 6 December 1994) was a Welsh playwright, screenwriter and actor, predominantly in television. However, he is best remembered by a wider audience for writing the screenplay of The Beatles' debut feature fi ...

Dennis Potter Dennis Christopher George Potter (17 May 1935 – 7 June 1994) was an English television dramatist, screenwriter and journalist. He is best known for his BBC television serials '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''The Singing Detective'' (198 ...

('' Shaggy Dog''), and C. P. Taylor. In 1970, as Director of Programming at LWT, she was the first woman to be appointed to the board of an ITV contractor.Claire Cozen
"TV's first woman programme controller dies aged 79"
mediaguardian.co.uk, 27 May 2002 A longstanding acquaintance of actress

Jean Marsh Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jea ...

, she commissioned the series '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' which Marsh had co-created. Richman's period at LWT was short-lived. Reportedly sacked by

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...

, then in effective control of the company, she went independent, renewing an association with

David Frost Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was a British television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ' ...

, and was responsible for projects such as '' Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill'' (1974) starring

Lee Remick Lee Ann Remick (December 14, 1935 – July 2, 1991) was an American actress and singer. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for the film ''Days of Wine and Roses (film), Days of Wine and Roses'' (1962), and for the 1966 ...

. For

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 ...

, she oversaw

Trevor Griffiths Trevor (Trefor (disambiguation), Trefor in the Welsh language) is a common given name or surname of Welsh language, Welsh origin. It is an habitational name, deriving from the Welsh ''tre(f)'', meaning "homestead", or "settlement" and ''fawr'', ...

' serial '' Bill Brand'' (1976), and for ATV, ''Clayhanger'' (1976), a 26-part dramatisation of

Arnold Bennett Enoch Arnold Bennett (27 May 1867 – 27 March 1931) was an English author, best known as a novelist. He wrote prolifically: between the 1890s and the 1930s he completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays (some in collaboratio ...

's novel cycle ''

The Clayhanger Family The ''Clayhanger'' Family is a series of novels by Arnold Bennett, published between 1910 and 1918. Though the series is commonly referred to as a "trilogy", and the first three novels were published in a single volume, as ''The Clayhanger Famil ...

''.Tise Vahimag
"Richman, Stella (1922-2002)"
BFI screenonline Stella Richman married three times; her first husband was the actor

Alec Clunes Alexander Sheriff de Moro Clunes (17 May 1912 – 13 March 1970) was an English actor and theatrical manager. Among the plays he presented were Christopher Fry's ''The Lady's Not For Burning''. He gave the actor and dramatist Peter Ustinov h ...

. With her second husband, Victor Brusa, she established the White Elephant Club, a restaurant and drinking club of which she was chairwoman from 1960 to 1968.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Richman, Stella 1922 births 2002 deaths British television producers British women television producers