William G. Stewart
| William G. Stewart | |
|---|---|
| Born |
William Gladstone Stewart 15 July 1935 Habrough, Lincolnshire, England, UK |
| Years active | 1960s–present |
| Spouse(s) |
Audrey Harrison (1960-1976) Sally Geeson (1976-1986) Laura Calland (1997-present) |
| Children | 5 |
William Gladstone Stewart (born 15 July 1935, in Habrough, Lincolnshire) is an English television producer and director of comedy and game shows. He was the presenter and producer of the Channel 4 quiz show Fifteen to One.
Career
In the 1960s, he worked as private secretary to Tom Driberg, about whom he made a documentary in 2009.[1][2]
Among the many shows he has produced or directed are Father, Dear Father, Love Thy Neighbour, Bless This House, My Good Woman, Spooner's Patch, The Rag Trade, Family Fortunes, Don't Forget Your Toothbrush and The Price is Right. He also presented the short-lived 1992 quiz show Famous People, Famous Places, made by his company, Regent Productions (which also made Fifteen to One) for Thames Television and shown only in the London region. He later sold Regent to Pearson Television, (which also purchased Thames) and they have now been amalgamated (along with the likes of Grundy Productions) into Talkback Thames, the UK arm of FremantleMedia.
In 1998, he successfully sued the Fifteen to One contestant Trevor Montague, who had lied to reappear on the programme.[3]
Personal life
In 1997, he married his third wife, Laura Calland, the voice-over artist from Fifteen to One. His first marriage was to Audrey Harrison (1960–76); his second wife was actress Sally Geeson (1976–86). His first child was Nick. He has two children by Sally Geeson, who starred in Bless This House, Barnaby and Hayley. Stewart also has two more children, by Laura, named Isobel and Hannah.
He is a long-standing supporter of the campaign to return the Elgin Marbles to Greece.[4] He joked that if, on an episode of Fifteen to One, too few contestants survived the first round to continue the game, he would give a speech on the Marbles to fill the time. This happened in a 2001 episode, where he gave a lengthy presentation on stated the case to return them for which the channel was criticized.[5]
References
- ↑ TV review from The Times, 20 March 2009
- ↑ "Tom Driberg and Me: A Personal Portrait by William G Stewart", BBC Four, March 2009
- ↑ Quiz shows: a history of cheating - The Guardian
- ↑ The National Lottery People's Quiz - BBC.co.uk
- ↑ "Channel 4 hit by wrestling rap". BBC.