This is an old revision of this page, as edited by LittleWink (talk | contribs) at 21:26, 26 February 2013 (WPCleaner v1.26 - Repaired 1 link to disambiguation page - (You can help) - Scottish). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 21:26, 26 February 2013 by LittleWink (talk | contribs) (WPCleaner v1.26 - Repaired 1 link to disambiguation page - (You can help) - Scottish)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Sir John Denis Forman, OBE (13 October 1917 – 24 February 2013) was a Scottish-born executive in the British television industry long associated with the ITV contractor Granada, and with various charitable and governmental bodies in the arts.
Career
Forman was born in 1917 in Cragielands, near Moffat, in Dumfries to the Rev Adam Forman, an Anglican vicar and country gentleman who eventually embraced Presbyterianism. The family lived in a house built in the Palladian style and were devout. Forman recounted his childhood in his memoir Son of Adam (1990, filmed as My Life So Far in 1999). He was educated at Loretto School, Musselburgh and Pembroke College, Cambridge.
Forman had a distinguished military career during the Second World War and was wounded at Monte Cassino, losing a leg. After the war he joined the British Film Institute and was its Director from 1948 to 1955. Later he was Chair of its Board of Governors, from 1971 to 1973.
After his first period of work at the BFI Forman joined the new Granada Television, an ITV contractor from 1956. He was Chairman from 1974 to 1987, and Deputy Chairman of the Granada Group from 1984 to 1990. He was also Deputy Chairman of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, from 1983 to 1991.
Personal Life
Forman married Helen de Mouilpied in 1948 and they had two sons, Charlie and Adam. She died in 1987. He married again in 1990, to Moni, the widow of the journalist James Cameron. He died in a nursing home in London, aged 95.
Publications
- Mozart’s Piano Concertos, 1971
- Son of Adam (autobiog.), 1990
- To Reason Why (autobiog.), 1991
- The Good Opera Guide, (ed) 1994
- Persona Granada: some memories of Sidney Bernstein and the early days of Independent Television (autobiog.), 1997
- The Good Wagner Guide, 2000
References
- "Sir Denis Forman". Telegraph. 25 February 2013. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
- ^ Philip Purser (25 February 2013). "Sir Denis Forman obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
- ^ "Who's Who". A & C Black. 1 June 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
- Granada's Sir Denis Forman dies aged 95 BBC News, 25 February 2013. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
External links
- Denis Forman at IMDb
- WW2 Experience Website detailing Forman's Military Career
- History of The British Film Institute Project
See also
 | This article about a television director is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it. |
- Use dmy dates from October 2012
- 1917 births
- 2013 deaths
- British television directors
- Knights Bachelor
- Officers of the Order of the British Empire
- People from Dumfries and Galloway
- Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge
- People educated at Loretto School, Musselburgh
- British Army officers
- Television director stubs