Jesse Frederick Joseph Yates (20 December 1918 – 9 April 1993) was a British television presenter and producer. He was the creator, presenter and producer of

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

's religious programme '' Stars on Sunday''. He was born in

Tyldesley Tyldesley () is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Lancashire, it is north of Chat Moss near the foothills of the Wes ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. His family moved to

Llandudno Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community (Wales), community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 UK census, the community � ...

when he was five. After leaving school, Yates worked as a cinema organist. He was born into a show business family; his mother booked stage acts. After the war he worked for

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

as a

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

designer and joined the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

on the production side in 1949. He was involved with programmes such as ''

Come Dancing ''Come Dancing'' is a British ballroom dancing competition show made by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), which aired on BBC One at various intervals from 1950 to 1998. Unlike its subsequent follow-up show, ''Strictly Come Dancing'', ...

'', '' The Good Old Days'' and the

Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Mi ...

competition. In 1968, he became Head of Children's programmes for Yorkshire Television. The following year, he began hosting ''Stars on Sunday''. Yates introduced the show seated at an electric organ, placed in front of a stained-glass window. One of his many observations was, "We can't see round the bend in the road, but God can." The programme attracted many special guests, including

Harry Secombe Sir Harry Donald Secombe (8 September 1921 – 11 April 2001) was a Welsh actor, comedian, singer and television presenter. Secombe was a member of the British radio comedy programme ''The Goon Show'' (1951–1960), playing many characters, mos ...

Dame Anna Neagle Dame Florence Marjorie Wilcox (''née'' Robertson; 20 October 1904 – 3 June 1986), known professionally as Anna Neagle, was an English stage and film actress, singer, and dancer. She was a successful box-office draw in British cinema for 2 ...

and

Gracie Fields Dame Gracie Fields (born Grace Stansfield; 9 January 189827 September 1979) was a British actress, singer and comedian. A star of cinema and music hall, she was one of the top ten film stars in Britain during the 1930s and was considered the h ...

. He was quoted as wanting stars to appear on the programme as that is what he thought would persuade viewers to tune in. From 1958 to 1975, Yates was married to actress and author Elaine Smith (whose stage name was Heller Toren, and who later wrote under the pseudonym Helene Thornton), who gave birth to a daughter Paula, born in 1959. His TV presenting career ended in 1974 when it was publicly revealed that he had been having an affair with young actress Anita Kay, although he was separated from his wife at the time. Amid the ensuing furor, Yates had to be smuggled from Yorkshire Television's studio complex in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

in the boot of a car. Jess Yates died of a stroke in April 1993, aged 74. In December 1997, a

DNA test Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...

revealed that

Paula Yates Paula Elizabeth Yates (24 April 1959 – 17 September 2000) was a Welsh television presenter and writer. Yates is best known for her work on two television programmes, '' The Tube'' and ''The Big Breakfast''. She was subjected to intense media ...

's biological father was not Jess Yates, but the television presenter

Hughie Green Hugh Hughes Green OStJ (2 February 1920 – 3 May 1997) was an English radio and television presenter, game show host and actor. Early life Green was born in Marylebone, London, to a Scottish father, Hugh Aitchison Green, a former British Army ...

, a one-time friend of Jess Yates who became his long-term rival from the 1960s onwards. Green was a key man in exposing Jess Yates's affair with Anita Kay back in 1974.

References

Sources

* ''The Daily Telegraph Third Book of Obituaries (Entertainers)'', edited by

Hugh Massingberd Hugh John Massingberd (30 December 1946 – 25 December 2007), originally Hugh John Montgomery and known from 1963 to 1992 as Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd, was an English journalist and genealogist. He began his career at ''Burke's Peerage''/''Bur ...

External links

*
''Stars on Sunday''
fan page {{DEFAULTSORT:Yates, Jess 1918 births 1993 deaths English entertainers English television presenters People from Tyldesley