08:55
Traffic jam:   1
$
92.2628
99.7057
WILLINGALE Betty
Person
WILLINGALE Betty

WILLINGALE
Betty

British television producer

Date of Birth: 27 July 1927

Date death: 15 February 2021

Age at the time of death: 93 years old

Zodiac sign: Leo

Profession: Producer

Content

Biography

Betty Kathleen Willingale was a British television producer and script editor, best known for her work on BBC Television adaptations of classic literature in the 1970s and 1980s.

Early life and education

Willingale was born in London in 1927, the daughter of a Thames lighterman named James. She acquired her literary interest from her mother, Elizabeth (née Bradish). She gained a scholarship to Aylwin Grammar School in Bermondsey, but was in Scotland on holiday when the Second World War began, remaining north of the border for a year. By her return, the school had been evacuated to Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire.

Career

After leaving school in 1944 without any qualifications, Willingale joined the BBC as a junior assistant in the reference library at Bush House (then the headquarters of the BBC European and Overseas Services). She moved to the television script library, then housed at Lime Grove, in 1955, where Nigel Kneale assisted her in adapting to the medium.

Willingale started to work as a script editor for the BBC beginning with the soap opera Compact in 1962 having rejected an invitation to work in the same role on Z-Cars, moving to the Sunday teatime Classic serial after a year. She became assistant head of the Script Unit. She worked on BBC drama serials with producer Martin Lisemore including North and South (1975) and I, Claudius (1976). After Lisemore's death in a car accident, she formed another strong working partnership with producer Jonathan Powell, script editing many of Powell's most successful drama serials including the adaptations of The Mayor of Casterbridge (1978), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979), Pride and Prejudice (1980), Sons and Lovers (1980) and The Barchester Chronicles (1982).

She was eventually given the chance to produce an adaptation of Mansfield Park (BBC 1983), later producing adaptations of Tender Is the Night (1985), Bleak House (1985) and Fortunes of War (1987), the latter two earned her BAFTA nominations. Willingale retired from the BBC in 1987.

She then started to work with Brian Eastman of Carnival Films on series made for ITV, Willingale co-produced Poirot, with David Suchet as the detective, and Jeeves and Wooster with Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. She optioned the Inspector Barnaby novels by Caroline Graham which became the basis of the long-running ITV series Midsomer Murders and chose John Nettles as the original lead. She produced the pilot episode, the first two series and half of the third and continued working as a Consultant Producer on Midsomer Murders until 2019. In 2015, when a name was needed for the new born baby of the series' lead character, John Barnaby, she was named Betty in Willingale's honour.

Rating GlobalENG.biz

Takes place
general
№1468
general
Takes place
area
№595
In rating
Show Business
area
Takes place
№16
In rating
Producer
profession

Mentioned together

English actress
1 place
Producer
2 place
Writer and director
3 place
British writer and director
4 place
film, theatre, TV writer and director
5 place
English television screenwriter and actor
6 place
English television director and producer
7 place
British actor and television screenwriter
8 place

Born in one day

Date of Birth: 27.07.1927. Age: 93. Zodiac sign: Leo (Rabbit) .
Horoscope Leo: horoscope for today, horoscope for tomorrow, horoscope for week, horoscope for month, horoscope for year.
Days left until next birthday: 119 Days.
British historian
1 place
Сhef
2 place

Discussion

Profile statistic

mentions
views
Companies rating
Conservative Party (UK)
43 Persons
Parliament of the United Kingdom
38 Persons
Barclays
17 Persons
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
14 Persons
Labour Party
11 Persons
Her Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury)
7 Persons
International Airlines Group (IAG)
6 Persons
Cabinet Office
4 Persons
Bank of England
4 Persons
John Lewis & Partners
4 Persons
GlobalEng.biz pays special attention to the activities of famous people: politicians, officials, businessmen, bankers, cultural and sports figures. Their opinion largely determines the development of the political, social and economic life of England and the United Kingdom. The section is constantly edited by our journalists for the relevance of the information. Here you can find information about the CEOs and presidents of top companies in England, officials and public figures who play a key role in the development of the region.
The goal of the project is to create a comfortable information space for all market participants, as well as to introduce the readership to business people in England.
We have created an impressive database of people in England, which contains information about the career path, education and other important information about a person.
Thanks to the automatic calculation of the number of mentions of a person in the news sections "English news" and "English press releases", a rating of the popularity and influence of persons is formed on the portal. The team GlobalEng.biz monitors changes in the rating and encourages project participants for their success. In general, the rating of participants is based on an in-depth analysis of the activity of PR services of famous people, and also reflects the qualitative state of the information field formed by the media and press services around the organization.
"Business people of England" is a project about people who, with their ideas, words and actions, have a great influence on the development and prosperity of England.
Alena Potapova

Development Director
Population
8112817153
Died this year
14379815
Born this year
35376890