Lew Grade, Baron Grade (birth name Louis Winogradsky) (December 25, 1906 - December 13, 1998) was an influential showbusiness impresario and television company executive in the United Kingdom. His interests included Pye Records and ATV. December 25 is the 359th day of the year (360th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 6 days remaining. ... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... December 13 is the 347th day of the year (348th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... This page is a candidate to be moved to Wiktionary. ... Pye Records was a British record label. ... The ATV colour logo, used from the start of the colour standard in 1969 until the companys demise in 1981. ...

He was born in Tokmak, Ukraine, to parents Olga and Isaac. In 1912 the Jewish family fled the Russian pogroms to a new life in the East End of London. Isaac managed a cinema, while his three sons attended the Rochelle Street School in Shoreditch. At 15 Louis became an agent for a clothing firm, and shortly afterwards started his own business. But after he won a Charleston competition at the Albert Hall in 1926, he became a professional dancer under the name Lew Grade. In 1933 founded a talent agency. His two brothers, Leslie Grade and Bernard Delfont, were also show business impresarios, and his nephew, Michael Grade (currently the Chairman of the BBC Board of Governors), carried on the tradition. A sister to Lew, Leslie and Bernie, Rita (1924-1992) was born in the UK, by which time the family was living in Streatham, south London. She married a Twickenham doctor, Joe Freeman (1912-1979), in 1949 - they have two sons, Ian (1950-?), a PR consultant and freelance journalist, and Andrew (1962-?), a corporate accountant. Tokmak is a city in Uzbekistan located on a peninsula on the south coast of the Aral Sea. ... The Russian word pogrom (погром) refers to a massive violent attack on people with simultaneous destruction of their environment (homes, businesses, religious centers). ... London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ... A USPS stamp from the Celebrate the Century series: Flappers Doing the Charleston by John Held Jr. ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Michael Grade CBE (born March 8, 1943) is a British businessman and a distinctive figure in the field of broadcasting. ... The Board of Governors of the BBC is a group of twelve people who together regulate the BBC and represent the interests of the public, in particular those of viewers and listeners. ...

Lew Grade is best known by viewing audiences as the man responsible for a number of cult British TV series, including The Saint and The Prisoner, through his ITC Entertainment production company. In 1962 he purchased independent production house AP Films, co-founded by Gerry Anderson, which produced a string of popular children's marionette adventure series including Supercar, Stingray, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Joe 90, three feature films, and the live-action sci-fi series UFO and Space: 1999. The Saint refers to the fictional character created by Leslie Charteris in one of the following contexts: Simon Templar, the character also known as The Saint (main article on this topic) The Saint, a TV series that ran from 1962 to 1969, starring Roger Moore as Simon Templar. ... The Prisoner was a controversial 1967 UK television series, starring Patrick McGoohan, created by McGoohan and George Markstein. ... -1... AP Films was a British independent film production company of the 1950s and 1960s. ... Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson are most famous as the production team for several futuristic childrens television shows involving specially modified marionettes, a process called supermarionation. Their most famous production is Thunderbirds, which was produced by their production company, originally known as AP Films and later renamed Century 21... Supercar was a childrens TV show produced by Gerry Andersons AP Films for ATV and ITC Entertainment. ... Genera Dasyatis Himantura Pastinachus Pteroplatytrygon Taeniura Urogymnus Stingrays are rays in the family Dasyatidae. ... Thunderbirds is a mid-1960s Sylvia and Gerry Anderson television show which used a form of puppetry called Supermarionation. // Cast, crew, and production notes Thunderbirds was the fourth childrens action-adventure series made by AP Films (APF) (at the time of production renamed Century 21 Productions) for the British... Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, often referred to in shorthand as simply Captain Scarlet, is a science fiction television series produced by the Century 21 Television company of Sylvia and Gerry Anderson and first shown in Britain between September 1967 and April 1968. ... Joe 90 is a 1968 Sylvia and Gerry Anderson television show concerning the adventures of a nine-year-old boy, Joe McClaine. ... UFO was a British television science fiction series created by Gerry Anderson and produced by Andersons and Lew Grades Century 21 Productions for Grades ITC Entertainment company. ... Left to right: Barbara Bain, Catherine Schell and Martin Landau from Space:1999s second season. ...

Grade was instrumental in bringing The Muppet Show to the screen and was immortalized by Jim Henson, who made a Muppet in his image -- Dr Bunsen Honeydew -- which had a very different personality and profession: He was the epitome of a Mad Scientist. Henson also based the character of movie mogul Lew Lord (played by Orson Welles) in The Muppet Movie, after Grade. The Muppet Show is a television program featuring a cast of Muppets (diverse hand operated puppets, typically with huge eyes and large moving mouths) produced by Jim Henson and his team from 1976 to 1981. ... Jim Henson James Maury Henson, commonly known as Jim Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990), was one of the most important puppeteers in modern American television history. ... John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together The Muppets are a group of puppets and costume characters created by Jim Henson and the company he created. ... Dr. Bunsen Honeydew is a character from The Muppet Show, performed by Dave Goelz. ... They LAUGHED at my theories at the institute! Fools! Ill destroy them all! Caucasian, male, aging, crooked teeth, messy hair, lab coat, spectacles/goggles, dramatic posing — one popular stereotype of mad scientist. ... . ... The Muppet Movie DVD cover The Muppet Movie is the first of a series of live-action musical feature films starring Jim Hensons Muppets. ...

His other successes as a producer included the award-winning Jesus of Nazareth (1977), starring Robert Powell - ironically, as Grade was Jewish. Grade had unique success in selling to the American market. The "Jesus of Nazarath" mini-series secured a record breaking $12m. He also promoted extravagant 'quality' productions on ATV to prove its equal to BBC TV, for instance giving over a whole evening schedule to a live broadcast of "Tosca" from La Scala starring Maria Callas. Picture of Robert Powell playing Jesus of Nazareth. ... Robert Powell (born June 1, 1944), is a highly successful British actor with many film and television roles to his credit. ... Picture of Robert Powell playing Jesus of Nazareth. ... This article is an overview article about the Crown chartered British Broadcasting Corporation formed in 1927. ... Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Victorien Sardous drama, La Tosca. ... La Scala This article is about the opera house. ... Maria Callas on book cover Maria Callas (Greek name: Μαρία Καλογεροπούλου; December 2, 1923 – September 16, 1977) was an American-born Greek soprano and perhaps the best-known opera singer of the post-World War II period. ...

In 1978 Grade backed an expensive 'all-star' film version of Clive Cussler's best seller "Raise the Titanic". Released a year after "Star Wars" audience taste had moved on and the film was a major flop - Grade remarked "It would have been cheaper to lower the Atlantic". Along with a number of other flops the film marked the end of Grades involvement with major motion picture production. 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... Clive Cussler (born July 15, 1931 in Alhambra, California) is an American adventure novelist. ... Clive Cussler is an American adventure novelist. ... The cover of the 2004 DVD widescreen release of the modified original Star Wars Trilogy. ...

He was made a life peer in 1976, having been knighted in 1969. 1976 (MCMLXXVI) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday For other uses, see Number 1969. ...

Quotes

• Commenting on his expensive flop, Raise the Titanic: "It would have been cheaper to lower the Atlantic."
• "Marriage was the best business deal I ever made. After that, Jesus of Nazareth and The Muppets."