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Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Alan Yentob, BBC Presenter Who Chronicled David Bowie, Dies at 78
Alan Yentob, a former BBC arts broadcaster and documentarian, died Saturday at age 78. News of Yentob's death was confirmed by the BBC and Yentob's family. Yentob's wife Philippa Walker said he was 'the kindest of men' and 'curious, funny, annoying, late and creative in every cell of his body.' Yentob spoke to cultural icons such as David Bowie and Maya Angelou throughout his career, and also served as the controller of BBC One and Two. 'To work with Alan was to be inspired and encouraged to think bigger. He 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,' said BBC director-general Tim Davie. 'Above all, Alan was a true original. His passion wasn't performative – it was personal. He believed in the power of culture to enrich, challenge and connect us.' Yentob was well-known for his 1975 feature about Bowie, 'Cracked Actor,' which documented the singer during an intense period of addiction. 'Everyone at Two Daughters Entertainment is devastated by the news of Alan's passing. We were incredibly fortunate to have had Alan work with us over the past few years as our Creative Director and Board Director,' said James Reatchlous, founder and executive director of Two Daughters Entertainment, in a statement shared with the TheWrap. 'Alan was a loyal friend, a passionate supporter of Two Daughters, and someone whose creativity, wisdom, and generosity of spirit had a profound influence on our company. His belief in our vision helped shape who we are today. Through his extraordinary career and deep relationships across the creative world, Alan brought remarkable talent into our orbit — including legends like Mel Brooks and Tim Rice, who joined recent projects thanks to his encouragement and belief in our work.' 'He will be deeply missed by everyone who knew and worked with him,' Reatchlous continued. 'Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Philippa, and their children, Jacob and Bella. We are thinking of them above all else at this very difficult time.' Alan Yentob is survived by his wife Philippa and their children. The post Alan Yentob, BBC Presenter Who Chronicled David Bowie, Dies at 78 appeared first on TheWrap.
Time of India
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
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.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
BBC arts broadcaster Alan Yentob dies aged 78
Alan Yentob, the long-serving BBC arts broadcaster and documentary-maker, has died aged 78. Yentob profiled and interviewed a wide range of important cultural and creative figures over the years, including David Bowie, Charles Saatchi, Maya Angelou and Grayson Perry, for TV series such as Omnibus, Arena and Imagine. He also served as controller of BBC One and Two, and the organisation's creative director and head of music and arts during a long and varied career. Paying tribute to her late husband, Philippa Walker described Yentob as "curious, funny, annoying, late and creative in every cell of his body" and added that he was "the kindest of men". BBC director-general Tim Davie called him a "creative force and cultural visionary" who championed "originality, risk-taking and artistic ambition". He added: "To work with Alan was to be inspired and encouraged to think bigger. He 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. "Above all, Alan was a true original. His passion wasn't performative - it was personal. He believed in the power of culture to enrich, challenge and connect us." Yentob was known for his connections in the entertainment industry, often befriending his famous film subjects who included music stars Jay-Z and Beyoncé, actors and filmmakers Orson Welles and Mel Brooks, and author Salman Rushdie. Synonymous with the BBC, Yentob was seen by viewers engaging in an arm wrestle with Rushdie while listening to opera in a scene taken from W1A - a sitcom which satirised life at the corporation. Yentob's famous 1975 Omnibus feature, Cracked Actor, about David Bowie, showed the drug-affected star opening up to him in the back of a limousine at an "intensely creative time", the filmmaker later recalled, but also at the singer's most "fragile and exhausted". Yentob became controller of BBC Two in 1988, making him one of the youngest channel controllers in the corporation's history. He oversaw a popular and influential period for the channel, with commissions such as hit sitcom Absolutely Fabulous - where his name was dropped into the dialogue of one episode as an in-joke Other shows launched during his tenure included The Late Show and Have I Got News for You. Yentob's success in the role saw him promoted to controller of BBC One from 1993 to 1997, before a stint as BBC television's overall director of programmes. He was announced as the corporation's creative director in 2004, a role he filled for more than a decade. But he continued to step in front of the camera to front more Imagine programmes, including the final episode of that series, a profile of comedic duo French & Saunders. His commissions also included a TV adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and children's channels CBBC and CBeebies. BBC Radio 4 Today presenter Amol Rajan paid tribute, saying: "He was such a unique and kind man: an improbable impresario from unlikely origins who became a towering figure in the culture of post-war Britain. "Modern art never had a more loyal ally. His shows were always brilliant, often masterpieces, sometimes seminal. So much of Britain's best TV over five decades came via his desk. That was public Alan. In private, he was magnetic, zealous, and very funny, with a mesmerising voice and mischievous chuckle." Yentob's long and successful career at the BBC was not without controversy. In 2015, he resigned from his role as the BBC's creative director, having faced scrutiny for his role, as chairman, in the financial mismanagement of the charity Kids Company. Yentob said the speculation over his conduct - which included claims he had tried to influence the BBC coverage of the charity's demise - had been "proving a serious distraction" when the BBC was in "particularly challenging times". But in the years that followed, he continued to make many more programmes for the broadcaster, and was subsequently appointed a CBE in 2024 for services to the arts and media. He is survived by his wife, TV producer Philippa Walker, and their two children.
