BBC veteran Alan Yentob dies at 78
File photo: Alan Yentob (Picture credit: X/@MarioNawfal)
Alan Yentob, a pioneering figure in British broadcasting and the creative force behind decades of acclaimed BBC content, has died aged 78, his family confirmed on Saturday.
Yentob joined the BBC in 1968 as a trainee and went on to become one of its most influential and recognisable figures.
His long career spanned roles including controller of BBC One and Two, head of music and arts, director of television, and the organisation's first creative director, a position he held for more than a decade.
His wife, Philippa Walker, paid tribute, calling Yentob 'curious, funny, annoying, late and creative in every cell of his body,' and remembered him as 'the kindest of men and a profoundly moral man.' She added, 'Our life was exciting, he was exciting.'
Yentob was widely celebrated for his contribution to arts programming. He edited and presented acclaimed series like Arena, Omnibus and Imagine, which profiled major cultural figures including
David Bowie
, Maya Angelou, Grayson Perry, and Charles Saatchi. His 1975 Omnibus documentary Cracked Actor, which followed a fragile but creatively explosive Bowie, remains one of his most iconic works.
As per BBC, Yentob recalled it captured the singer at his 'most fragile and exhausted.'
BBC director-general Tim Davie described Yentob as 'a creative force and a cultural visionary' whose 'passion wasn't performative – it was personal.' He added, 'To work with Alan was to be inspired and encouraged to think bigger. He believed in the power of culture to enrich, challenge and connect us.'
According to The Guardian, Davie also said Yentob had 'a rare gift for identifying talent and lifting others up – a mentor and champion to so many across the worlds of television, film and theatre.'
During his leadership at BBC Two from 1988, Yentob helped launch Absolutely Fabulous, Have I Got News for You and The Late Show. His work was influential in shaping the broadcaster's arts and comedy output, and he also helped develop children's channels CBBC and CBeebies.
Born in London in 1947 into an Iraqi Jewish family, Yentob grew up in Greater Manchester and studied law at the University of Leeds. When he joined the BBC World Service, he was the only non-Oxbridge graduate among his peers that year, reported The Guardian.
Yentob's career wasn't without controversy. In 2015, he resigned as the BBC's creative director amid scrutiny over his role as chairman of the charity Kids Company, which collapsed the same year. He denied any conflict of interest but admitted the coverage had become a 'serious distraction' for the broadcaster, according to the BBC.
Despite this, he continued producing content and was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2024 for services to the arts and media.
Tributes have poured in from colleagues and friends. Actress Dawn French posted a photo with Yentob and Jennifer Saunders, calling him 'our advocate from the start' and 'a tip top chap.' The Pet Shop Boys called him 'a legend in British TV' on social media, noting he was behind some of the BBC's 'finest programmes.'
BBC Radio 4 presenter Amol Rajan called him 'a towering figure in the culture of post-war Britain' and described his shows as 'always brilliant, often masterpieces, sometimes seminal.' Rajan added: 'He oozed fortitude until the very last… one of the most generous, influential, singular, passionate, supportive, creative and loved men of his generation.'
Yentob is survived by his wife, Philippa Walker, and their two children.
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