Norma Percy (born c. 1942 ) is an American-born,

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

maker and producer. The documentaries she has produced in collaboration with Brian Lapping have covered many of the crises of the 20th Century. In 2010, she was awarded the Orwell Prize Special Prize for Lifetime Achievement.

Early life

Percy was born and raised in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. She studied politics at

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

in Ohio, later studying for a master's degree at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

. She then became a researcher at the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

where she spent six years; in her time there, she worked as a researcher for the MP John Mackintosh, who recommended her to the

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, ...

producer Brian Lapping when he was looking for a researcher for a documentary on the workings of Parliament called ''The State of the Nation''.

Career

Percy produced the Granada series ''End of Empire'' (1985), which explored the effects of the end of the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

in various former colonies, and worked with Lapping on the 1987 drama-documentary ''Breakthrough at Reykjavik'', a reconstruction of the

Reykjavík Summit The Reykjavík Summit was a Summit (meeting), summit meeting between President of the United States, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev, held in Reykjavík, Iceland, on ...

between

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

and

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

in 1986. After fifteen years at Granada, Percy joined the newly formed production company Brian Lapping Associates in 1988. (When that company later merged with Brook Associates in 1997, she was a founding director of the new company Brook Lapping.) The Percy-produced documentary series ''

Watergate The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Nixon's resignation in 1974, in August of that year. It revol ...

'' aired on 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 ...

and the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

in 1994. Narrated by Daniel Schorr and directed by Mick Gold, this five-part series chronicled the

Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the Presidency of Richard Nixon, administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Resignation of Richard Nixon, Nix ...

and featured exclusive interviews with many of the key participants in the events, including

H. R. Haldeman Harry Robbins "Bob" Haldeman (October 27, 1926 – November 12, 1993) was an American political aide and businessman, best known for his service as White House Chief of Staff to President Richard Nixon and his consequent involvement in the Water ...

, John Ehrlichman,

John Dean John Wesley Dean III (born October 14, 1938) is a disbarred American attorney who served as White House Counsel for U.S. President Richard Nixon from July 1970 until April 1973. Dean is known for his role in the cover-up of the Watergate scan ...

and G. Gordon Liddy as well as former President

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Ford assumed the p ...

. The series won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

. '' The Death of Yugoslavia'' (1995), with Lapping as co-producer, covered the events that led to the collapse of the former Yugoslavia and the aftermath. The series again contained interviews with many of the major participants, including

Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Милошевић, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the President of Serbia between 1989 and 1997 and President of the Federal Republic of Yugos ...

and

Radovan Karadžić Radovan Karadžić ( sr-Cyrl, Радован Караџић, ; born 19 June 1945) is a Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian Serb politician who was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes by the International Criminal ...

. The series won a

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

Award as Best Factual Series for 1995. The Balkans were revisited in the 2001 series ''The Fall of Milošević'' which dealt with the fall from power of the Serbian leader.

Awards and recognition

Percy, along with Brian Lapping, was awarded the Alan Clarke Award (for outstanding contribution to Television) at the 2002

awards. Percy was made a Fellow of the

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

in 1999 and was awarded the Judges Prize by that society at the 2010 RTS Awards. In 2009, at the Grierson Awards, she, along with colleagues from the Brook Lapping production company, won the ''Best Documentary Series'' award for ''Iran and the West''; Percy also given the Trustee's Prize by the Grierson Trust for her contributions to documentary film over the previous 30 years. The ''Special Prize for Lifetime Achievement'' was given to her at the Orwell Prize ceremony in 2010. In 2009, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' wrote of Percy: "Her documentaries stand out for their seriousness, but most of all for the extraordinary range of people who agree to appear on them. These programmes do not depend on one celebrity

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

, or a handful of journalistic talking heads; they interrogate players from all sides with a respect for complexities that demands concentration."

Personal life

In 2004, she married the geneticist Steve Jones; the couple had lived together since 1977.'JONES, Prof. (John) Stephen', Who's Who 2011, A & C Black, 2011; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2010; online edn, Oct 201
accessed 22 May 2011
/ref>

Filmography

*''Israel and the Palestinians: The Road to 7th October'' (2025) * ''La guerre de Poutine'' (2024) *''Putin vs the West'' (2023) *''Cuba: Castro vs the World'' (2020) *'' Inside Europe: Ten Years of Turmoil'' (2019) *''Inside Obama's White House'' (2016) *''The Iraq War'' (2013) *'' Putin, Russia and the West'' (2012) *'' Iran and the West'' (2009) *'' Israel and the Arabs: Elusive Peace'' (2005) *''Endgame in Ireland'' (2001) *''The Fall of Milošević (2001) *'' The American Experience'' - '' Nixon's China Game'' episode producer (2001) *''The 50 Years War: Israel and the Arabs'' (1998) *'' The Death of Yugoslavia'' (1995) *''

'' (1994) *'' Timewatch'' *'' Countdown to War'' (1989) *''End of Empire'' (1985)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Percy, Norma Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American documentary film producers Businesspeople from New York City Oberlin College alumni BAFTA winners (people) Film producers from New York (state) American women documentary filmmakers 21st-century American women