Sir John Denis Forman (13 October 1917 – 24 February 2013) was a Scottish executive in the British television industry long associated with the ITV contractor

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

, and with various charitable and governmental bodies in the arts.

Career

Forman was born in 1917 in Cragielands, near

Moffat Moffat is a burgh and parish in Dumfriesshire. Part of the Dumfries and Galloway local authority area in Scotland, it lies on the River Annan, with a population of around 2,500. It was a centre of the wool trade and a spa town. Moffat is arou ...

, in

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...

, to the Rev Adam Forman, an

Episcopalian Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protes ...

vicar and country gentleman who later became a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

minister. 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 Musselburgh (; ; ) is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, east of Edinburgh city centre. It had a population of as of . History The name Musselburgh is Old English language, Old English in ...

and

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 students and fellows. It is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from ...

. Forman had a distinguished military career during the Second World War and was wounded at

Monte Cassino The Abbey of Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a Catholic Church, Catholic, Benedictines, Benedictine monastery on a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Valle Latina, Latin Valley. Located on the site of the ancient ...

, losing a leg. After the war he joined the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

and was its director from 1948 to 1955. Later he was chair of its board of governors, from 1971 to 1973. After his main period of work at the BFI, Forman joined the new

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend TV, ...

in 1955, an ITV contractor which went on air in the following year, being appointed by Cecil Bernstein (brother of Sidney) who was a BFI governor at the time. 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 The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

Covent Garden, from 1983 to 1991. Throughout his career, Forman encouraged young talent and amongst others, mentored the founder of Channel 4 Sir Jeremy Isaacs and musician and businessman David Wood. At Granada Forman presided over the creation of the acclaimed series '' The Jewel in the Crown'' and such ground-breaking programmes as ''

World in Action ''World in Action'' was a British investigative current affairs programme made by Granada Television for ITV from 7 January 1963 until 7 December 1998. Its campaigning journalism frequently had a major impact on events of the day. Its product ...

'', '' Disappearing World'', ''

University Challenge ''University Challenge'' is a British television quiz programme which first aired in 1962. ''University Challenge'' aired for 913 episodes on ITV from 21 September 1962 to 31 December 1987, presented by quizmaster Bamber Gascoigne. The BBC ...

'' and ''Family at War''.

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 James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker, who resides in New Zealand. He is a major figure in the post-New Hollywood era and often uses novel technologies with a Classical Hollywood cinema, classical filmmaking styl ...

. He died of a heart attack in a nursing home in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, aged 95.Granada's Sir Denis Forman dies aged 95

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

, 25 February 2013. Retrieved 25 February 2013.

Publications

*''Mozart’s Piano Concertos'', 1971 *''Son of Adam'' (autobiography, vol.1), 1990 *''To Reason Why'' (autobiography, vol.2), 1991 *''The Good Opera Guide'', (ed.) 1994 *''Persona Granada: Some Memories of Sidney Bernstein and the Early Days of Independent Television'' (memoir), 1997 *''A Night at the Opera: An Irreverent Guide to The Plots, The Singers, The Composers, The Recordings'', 1998 *''The Good Wagner Guide'', 2000

References

External links

*
WW2 Experience website detailing Forman's military careerAppearance on Desert Island Discs (3 March 1991)

Career

Personal life

Publications

References

External links

See also