Rebecca Eaton (born November 7, 1947) is an American television producer and film producer best known for introducing American audiences to British costume and countryside dramas as executive producer of the PBS ''

Masterpiece A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

'' series. In 2011, she was named one of ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'' magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World".

Early life

Eaton was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and raised in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. ...

, her father a

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

English literature professor and her mother,

Katherine Emery Katherine Drewry Emery (October 11, 1906 – February 7, 1980) was an American stage and film actress. Early years Emery was born in Birmingham, Alabama. She graduated from Sweet Briar College in 1928 and then went home to Montclair, New ...

, an actress both on Broadway (in Lillian Hellman's '' The Children's Hour'') and in film. Eaton recalls visiting New York every summer to see Broadway shows as well as spending her junior high school days lost in ''

Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The first ...

''.The Paley Center for Media
"Rebecca Eaton: Television Producer"
/ref>

Education

Eaton attended

Polytechnic School Polytechnic School, often referred to simply as Poly, is a college preparatory private day school located in Pasadena, California with approximately 850 students enrolled in grades Kindergarten through 12. The school is a former member of the ...

, graduating in 1965, and then Vassar, graduating in 1969 with a BA in English literature. Her senior thesis was on

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the Modernism, modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important ...

's ''

Dubliners ''Dubliners'' is a collection of fifteen short stories by James Joyce, first published in 1914. It presents a naturalistic depiction of Irish middle class life in and around Dublin in the early years of the 20th century. The stories were writ ...

''. In 1969–70 she was a production assistant for the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the British Government through the Foreign Secretary's office. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception a ...

in London. Returning to the U.S., she was in 1972 hired by

WGBH WGBH may refer to: * WGBH Educational Foundation, based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States ** WGBH (FM), a public radio station at Boston, Massachusetts on 89.7 MHz owned by the WGBH Educational Foundation ** WGBH-TV WGBH-TV (channel 2), ...

in Boston, there producing ''Pantechnicon'' (a radio arts magazine) and the television programs ''Zoom'' and ''Enterprise''.

Career

Eaton became the third executive producer of ''Masterpiece Theatre''. Christopher Sarson was at the helm from its inception in 1971. Sarson had bought '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' from ITV. Eaton succeeded the series' second executive producer, Joan Wilson, in 1985. Under Eaton, ''Masterpiece'' extended its reach into feature film co-production for such films as Jane Austen's ''

Persuasion Persuasion or persuasion arts is an umbrella term for influence. Persuasion can influence a person's beliefs, attitudes, intentions, motivations, or behaviours. Persuasion is studied in many disciplines. Rhetoric studies modes of persua ...

'' and '' Mrs. Brown'' starring Dame

Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...

. By 2011, she had been executive producer of the show for more than 25 of its 40 years on the air.Gillian Anderson
"Rebecca Eaton, TV Producer"
''

'', April 21, 2011.

Personal life

In 1984, Eaton married sculptor Paul Robert Cooper. Their daughter was born shortly before Eaton was named executive producer of ''Masterpiece''. She credits her husband's willingness to stay at home with having advanced her career.

Honors

Eaton's honors include 62 Primetime Emmy Awards, 16 Peabody Awards, six Golden Globes, and two Academy Award nominations (for the Masterpiece co-production ''Mrs. Brown'').

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

has honored her with an honorary OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire).PBS
"PBS Honors Rebecca Eaton, Masterpiece Executive Producer, with 'Be More' Award
/ref> In 2011 she was one of ''Time'' magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World".

Television series

Since becoming executive producer of ''Masterpiece'' in 1985, Eaton is credited with producing for American audiences series that include: * ''

Prime Suspect ''Prime Suspect'' is a British police procedural television drama series devised by Lynda La Plante. It stars Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison, one of the first female Detective Chief Inspectors in Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service, who ...

'' * ''

Bleak House ''Bleak House'' is a novel by Charles Dickens, first published as a 20-episode serial between March 1852 and September 1853. The novel has many characters and several sub-plots, and is told partly by the novel's heroine, Esther Summerson, and ...

'' * '' The Lost Prince'' (

) * ''

Inspector Morse Detective Chief Inspector Endeavour Morse, GM, is the eponymous fictional character in the series of detective novels by British author Colin Dexter. On television, he appears in the 33-episode drama series '' Inspector Morse'' (1987–2000), ...

'' * ''

Agatha Christie's Marple ''Agatha Christie's Marple'' (or simply ''Marple'') is a British ITV television programme loosely based on the books and short stories by British crime novelist Agatha Christie. The title character was played by Geraldine McEwan from the first ...

'' * ''

House of Cards A house of cards (also known as a card tower or card castle) is a structure created by stacking playing cards on top of each other, often in the shape of a pyramid. "House of cards" is also an expression that dates back to 1645 meaning a structu ...

'' *

Tony Hillerman Anthony Grove Hillerman (May 27, 1925 – October 26, 2008) was an American author of detective novels and nonfiction works, best known for his mystery novels featuring Navajo Nation Police officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. Several of his work ...

's ''Skinwalkers'', ''Coyote Waits'', and ''A Thief of Time'' * '' The Complete Jane Austen'' * '' Cranford'' (

) * ''

Wallander Wallander may refer to: TV, film, books * Kurt Wallander Kurt Wallander () is a fictional Swedish police inspector created by Swedish crime writer Henning Mankell (1948 – 2015). He is the protagonist of many thriller/mystery novels set in and ...

'' * ''

Little Dorrit ''Little Dorrit'' is a novel by Charles Dickens, originally published in serial form between 1855 and 1857. The story features Amy Dorrit, youngest child of her family, born and raised in the Marshalsea prison for debtors in London. Arthur Cl ...

'' * '' Sherlock'' * ''

Downton Abbey ''Downton Abbey'' is a British historical drama television series set in the early 20th century, created and co-written by Julian Fellowes. The series first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV on 26 September 2010 and in the United States o ...

'' (

) * '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' (remake) *'' Endeavour''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eaton, Rebecca 1947 births Living people Television producers from California American women television producers Vassar College alumni Businesspeople from Boston People from Pasadena, California Honorary Officers of the Order of the British Empire 21st-century American women Primetime Emmy Award winners