Sir Stephen Harry Waley-Cohen, 2nd Baronet (born 22 June 1946 in

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

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 ...

)"Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen, Bt Authorised Biography"
''Debrett's People of Today''. Retrieved 1 December 2012. is an English theatre owner-manager and producer, following a career as a businessman and financial journalist. He manages the St. Martin's Theatre in London's West End and is the current producer of the world's longest running play '' The Mousetrap''."Victoria Palace Licenses AudienceView Ticketing Solution"
, '' AudienceView Ticketing Company'', 22 January 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
''Whatsonstage.com'', 25 November 2011. Retrieved 1 December 2012. He was Chairman of the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...

(RADA) Council."RADA Governance and Advisors"
''RADA'' from 2007 to 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2014.

Career

Business

Waley-Cohen was a financial journalist, at the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

'' from 1968 to 1973, and a founder director and publisher at Euromoney Publications (which later became

Euromoney Institutional Investor Delinian (formerly Euromoney Institutional Investor) is a British financial media company that has interests in business and financial publishing and event organisation. , it was one of Europe's largest business and financial information comp ...

PLC) from 1969 to 1983. He was involved with the insurance business, including as chairman of Willis Faber & Dumas (Agencies) (part of what became the

Willis Group Willis Group Holdings plc was a multinational risk advisor, insurance brokerage and reinsurance brokerage company headquartered in the Willis Building in London. It was the third-largest insurance broker worldwide by revenues. In 2016, the com ...

) from 1992 to 1999, director of the Stewart Wrightson Members Agency Ltd 1987 to 1998 and chairman of Policy Portfolio plc from 1993 to 1998. He was chairman of First Call Group plc from 1996 to 1998 and of Portsmouth & Sunderland Newspaper plc from 1998 to 1999. He was a director of Exeter Preferred Capital Investment Trust plc 1992–2003.

Theatre

Waley-Cohen has been a theatre owner and manager since 1984 when he was Joint Chief Executive of Maybox Group, which managed the Albery (now named the

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...

), Criterion,

Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit Off-West End theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage, Josie Rourke and Michael Longhurst have all served as artistic direc ...

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, Whitehall (now Trafalgar Studios) and Wyndham's theatres, until it was sold in 1989. In 1989 he became managing director of the Victoria Palace Theatre, and took on the management of the St. Martin's Theatre. He managed the Vaudeville Theatre from 1996 to 2001 and the

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from 1997 to 2005. In April 2007 he took over the Ambassadors Theatre. In 2014, he sold the Victoria Palace to

Delfont Mackintosh Theatres Delfont Mackintosh Theatres is a theatre group owned by British theatrical producer Cameron Mackintosh. The company was founded in 1991 by Mackintosh and Bernard Delfont when Mackintosh acquired part ownership of the theatre holdings of First ...

. He became the producer of '' The Mousetrap'' in 1994. During his time managing the St. Martin's Theatre, he had got to know ''The Mousetrap'''s producer, Peter Saunders. Waley-Cohen said, "When aunderswanted to retire at the age of 80, he picked up the phone to me".Valerie Lawson
"The Mousetrap a veritable money trap"
''The Australian Financial Review'', 8 July 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2012. Mousetrap Productions, of which Waley-Cohen is the sole director, is licensed to produce the play by Mathew Prichard,

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving ...

's grandson, to whom she gave the rights to ''The Mousetrap'' when he was nine. In 1997, Waley-Cohen launched the education charity, Mousetrap Theatre Projects."Mousetrap Theatre Projects – History"
''Mousetrap Theatre Projects'', 15 March 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2012. The charity brings disadvantaged young people into the West End to experience theatre, and runs access, education and audience development programmes. The charity had taken over 100,000 young people to the theatre by 2012.

Politics

Waley-Cohen stood unsuccessfully as the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

candidate in both the General Elections in 1974 for the Manchester Gorton constituency.

Appointments and honours

Waley-Cohen was Chairman of the RADA Council until 2021 (a position to which he was elected in September 2007), and Chairman of RADA's Development Board. He was President of the

Society of London Theatre The Society of London Theatre (SOLT) is a British trade association for West End theatre in London. It was founded in 1908 as Society of West End Theatre Managers, becoming the Society of West End Theatre in 1975, and then changing to its curren ...

from 2002 to 2005, having been a member since 1984 and a board member since 1993. He was a Trustee of The Theatres Trust from 1998 to 2004. He is President of the JCA Charitable Foundation, which supports projects for education, agriculture and tourism in rural areas of Israel such as

Galilee Galilee (; ; ; ) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon consisting of two parts: the Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and the Lower Galilee (, ; , ). ''Galilee'' encompasses the area north of the Mount Carmel-Mount Gilboa ridge and ...

and the

Negev The Negev ( ; ) or Naqab (), is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southern end is the Gulf of Aqaba and the resort town, resort city ...

. In 2011 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) (, ''Universitat Ben-Guriyon baNegev'') is a public university, public research university in Beersheba, Israel. Named after Israeli List of national founders, national founder David Ben-Gurion, the unive ...

."Five Outstanding Individuals Honored"
''Ben-Gurion University of the Negev'', Summer 2011. Retrieved 1 December 2012. He was chairman of the British-American Project executive committee from 1989 to 92, and continued to have a role in its subsequent development. He is currently a trustee of the Campaign for the Arts."Our people"
''Campaign for the Arts''. Retrieved 4 December 2024. As a hereditary

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, Waley-Cohen is styled ''Sir'' as part of his baronetcy – the title is not a knighthood.

Personal life

Waley-Cohen has three children by his first marriage to Pamela Doniger, and two with American sculptor Josie Spencer. His nephew is the jockey Sam Waley-Cohen. His father, Bernard Waley-Cohen, was Lord Mayor of London, and his mother was educationalist and public servant Joyce Waley-Cohen.

Arms

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waley-Cohen, Stephen 1946 births People educated at Eton College Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge English theatre managers and producers English businesspeople English Jews Daily Mail journalists People associated with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Living people 2

Stephen Stephen or Steven is an English given name, first name. It is particularly significant to Christianity, Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is w ...