Desmond Wilcox
Encyclopedia
Desmond John Wilcox was a British
documentary
maker at the BBC and ITV. He was producer of This Week, Man Alive
and That's Life!
.
, to John William Wilcox and Alice M Whittle and ran away from home at age 16 to work as a deckhand in the merchant marine. He began his career in journalism as a reporter on a weekly newspaper in 1949. He moved to Fleet Street after two years of National Service. He worked for the Daily Mirror, becoming a foreign correspondent in the New York bureau.
In 1960 he moved to television as a reporter on ITV's This Week current affairs programme, where he stayed for five years until joining the BBC.
In an interview in 1986 he said:
) whose face was rebuilt by a Scottish surgeon who adopted him. The series won six international awards.
in 1977 following an 8 year affair with her. They had three children together, including television presenter Rebecca Wilcox
. He had three other children from an earlier marriage to Patsy. He converted to Judaism in 1992. He died of a heart attack in Paddington
, London
, in 2000, aged 69.
A media arts centre at a High School in Rainhill
, Merseyside has been opened, named in his honour.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
maker at the BBC and ITV. He was producer of This Week, Man Alive
Man Alive BBC TV
Man Alive is a documentary and current affairs series which ran on BBC2 between 1965 and 1981. During that time there were nearly 500 programmes tackling a range of social and political issues, both in the UK and abroad...
and That's Life!
That's Life!
That's Life! was a magazine-style television series on BBC1 between 26 May 1973 and 19 June 1994, presented by Esther Rantzen throughout the entire run, with various changes of co-presenters. The show was generally recorded about an hour prior to transmission, which was originally on Saturday...
.
Early life
Wilcox was born in 1931 in Welwyn Garden City, EnglandWelwyn Garden City
-Economy:Ever since its inception as garden city, Welwyn Garden City has attracted a strong commercial base with several designated employment areas. Among the companies trading in the town are:*Air Link Systems*Baxter*British Lead Mills*Carl Zeiss...
, to John William Wilcox and Alice M Whittle and ran away from home at age 16 to work as a deckhand in the merchant marine. He began his career in journalism as a reporter on a weekly newspaper in 1949. He moved to Fleet Street after two years of National Service. He worked for the Daily Mirror, becoming a foreign correspondent in the New York bureau.
In 1960 he moved to television as a reporter on ITV's This Week current affairs programme, where he stayed for five years until joining the BBC.
Documentaries
He was co-editor and presenter of the landmark Man Alive series in 1965. He later formed the Man Alive Unit as well as providing the distinctive voice-over in the weekly current-affairs programme 'TEMPO' directed by Mike Hodges.In an interview in 1986 he said:
BBC executive
From 1972 to 1980 he was head of general features at the BBC. He made series including Americans, The Visit, Black in Blue and A Day in the Life.Later career
After he left the staff of the BBC, Wilcox was involved in the occasional series following the story of David Jackson (David Lopez) 'the Boy David', a badly-deformed Peruvian boy (a sufferer of nomaNoma (disease)
Noma also known as cancrum oris or gangrenous stomatitis, is a gangrenous disease leading to tissue destruction of the face, especially the mouth and cheek.-Causes:...
) whose face was rebuilt by a Scottish surgeon who adopted him. The series won six international awards.
Personal life
He was married to television presenter Esther RantzenEsther Rantzen
Esther Louise Rantzen CBE is an English journalist and television presenter who is best known for presenting the BBC television series That's Life!, and for her work in various charitable causes. She is founder of the child protection charity ChildLine, and also advocates the work of the Burma...
in 1977 following an 8 year affair with her. They had three children together, including television presenter Rebecca Wilcox
Rebecca Wilcox
Rebecca Wilcox is an English television presenter, mainly for the BBC.The middle of three children born to journalist turned television presenter Esther Rantzen and producer Desmond Wilcox, she has an older sister Emily and younger brother Josh...
. He had three other children from an earlier marriage to Patsy. He converted to Judaism in 1992. He died of a heart attack in Paddington
Paddington
Paddington is a district within the City of Westminster, in central London, England. Formerly a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, in 2000, aged 69.
Awards
He was posthumously awarded the Grierson Documentary Film Awards Life Tribute in November 2001.A media arts centre at a High School in Rainhill
Rainhill
Rainhill is a large village and civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, in Merseyside, England.Historically a part of Lancashire, Rainhill was formerly a township within the ecclesiastical parish of Prescot, and hundred of West Derby...
, Merseyside has been opened, named in his honour.