Michael Birkett, 2nd Baron Birkett

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Michael Birkett, 2nd Baron Birkett (22 October 1929 – 3 April 2015) was a British film producer/director, author and hereditary peer.^[1]

Early life and education[]

Michael Birkett was the only son of Norman, 1st Baron Birkett by his wife, Ruth (née Nilsson).^{[citation needed]} Birkett attended Stowe before going up to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he completed an MA.^{[citation needed]}

Succession[]

On 10 February 1962, Michael Birkett succeeded his father as the 2nd Baron Birkett, a UK Peerage title created in 1958.^[2]

Career[]

Film productions[]

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Birkett produced Sir Peter Hall's 1969 film A Midsummer Night's Dream and Peter Brook's pictures Marat/Sade (1967) and King Lear (1971), starring Paul Scofield.^{[according to whom?]} He was also executive producer of Brook's television mini-series The Mahabharata (1989), and later produced Clive Donner production of Harold Pinter's The Caretaker, starring Alan Bates, Donald Pleasence and Robert Shaw.^{[when?][according to whom?]}

Writing[]

He was author of The Story of the Ring, a retelling of Wagner's operatic epic, published in 2009.^[3]

Public service and appointments[]

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Birkett served as Deputy Director of The National Theatre between 1975 and 1977 (under Sir Peter Hall),^{[citation needed]} and was subsequently engaged as a consultant and later appointed Director for Recreation and Arts at the Greater London Council (from 1979 until its abolition in 1986).^{[citation needed]} He was executive director of the Royal Philharmonic Society,^{[citation needed]} chairman of BAFTA,^{[citation needed]} as well as heading numerous other arts bodies.^{[citation needed]} He also served as the chairman of Governors of the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology (1990–2001),^{[citation needed]} and chairman of the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition (1990–2008).^{[citation needed]}

A Freeman of the City of London,^{[clarification needed]} Birkett was admitted a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Curriers, later serving as Master Currier (1975–76).^{[clarification needed]}

House of Lords[]

Having succeeded as Baron Birkett in 1962,^[4] he later took his seat on the Crossbenches of the Upper House.^{[citation needed]} There, he was a leading proponent of a national lottery to provide extra funding for the Arts and proposed the idea in a speech before the House of Lords in 1988.^[5] Two years later he and Denis Vaughan formed the Lottery Promotion Company,^[6][7] solely advocating for legislation to establish a not-for-profit, privately run lottery, a proposal eventually adopted under Prime Minister John Major in 1994.^{[citation needed]}

Family[]

On 13 October 1960, Birkett married Mrs Junia Crawford (née Elliott); Lady Birkett died in 1973.^[8] In 1978 he married Gloria Taylor,^{[verification needed]} daughter of Thomas Taylor, an industrialist, and they had a son, The Hon. Thomas Birkett (born 25 July 1982).^{[8][verification needed]} Gloria, Lady Birkett (mother, by a previous marriage, of the actor Alexander Siddig), died on 10 February 2001.^[8]

Death and succession[]

Michael Birkett, 2nd Baron Birkett, died in 2015,^{[citation needed]} at which time the family title devolved upon the 3rd and present baron, his only child and heir, Thomas Birkett, 3rd Baron Birkett, a cinematographer.^[9]

Arms[]

The following is information regarding the coat of arms of the late Michael Birkett, 2nd Baron Birkett.^{[citation needed]}

Coat of arms of Michael Birkett, 2nd Baron Birkett hide

Notes Granted by Sir Algar Howard, Garter King of Arms (College of Arms, 1958) Crest Between two Wings Gules a Viking Ship Proper Helm Coronet of a Baron Escutcheon Gules three full-bottomed Wigs Argent Supporters Dexter, a Lion Or semy of Roses Gules; Sinister, a Wolf Sable semy of Mullets Or Motto Lex mea lux (en: Light is my law)

References[]

External links[]

• [1]
• Lundy, Darryl (9 February 2020). "Person Page—14283: §William Norman Birkett, 1st Baron Birkett [and following]". ThePeerage.com. Wleeington, NZ: Darryl Lundy.
• Michael Birkett at IMDb

Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Norman Birkett	Baron Birkett 1962–2015	Succeeded by Thomas Birkett