Robin Bextor
![]() | This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification, as it includes attribution to IMDb. (May 2011) |
Robin Bextor | |
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Born | Robin J. Bextor 11 October 1953 Hammersmith, England |
Alma mater | University of Reading |
Occupation | Film director, producer, author |
Spouse(s) | Janet Ellis (1) Polly Mockford |
Children | Sophie, Dulce, Bertie, Maisy |
Robin Bextor (born October 11, 1953) is an English film and television producer and director. He is the father of the dance-pop singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor.[1]
Early life and education[]
After education at Shene Grammar School in Richmond, Surrey, England, and at the University of Reading, he worked at the Dimbleby owned Richmond and Twickenham Times before joining Thames Television and then the BBC, where he produced and directed documentaries, including the RTS award-winning film on blind parents and entertainment programmes,[2] including That's Life!.[3] During this time he also made pop promotion videos for such bands as Bad Manners,[1] Bow Wow Wow, Adam Ant and Bucks Fizz.
Career[]
In the early 1990s, he became head of arts at TWI[citation needed] before joining the Man Alive group.[citation needed]
He directed Edward on Edward, a documentary in which Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex discussed King Edward VIII.[4]
As director of programmes for Ardent, he steered the company to its first profit,[citation needed] but left to pursue other projects, including films with Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, and Paul McCartney.[citation needed]
He has since made programmes with his daughter, the singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor;[citation needed] the French duo Air;[5] The Damned;[1] The Stranglers; and UB40.[5][6] He directed the cult short film Norfolk Coast,[7] featuring Susannah York and Jean Jacques Burnel. He is majority shareholder of the Soho post production business Vivid, responsible for programmes on the England Football team, Test cricket and Fulham FC as well as many arts subjects.
He has won the Columbus ("Chris") award for The British Schindler,[8] shown on ITV in 2005, a BAFTA and the New York Film Festival best documentary award.[citation needed]
Robin also directed his daughter's DVD Watch My Lips.He has been director of the Chichester Festival for five years and a trustee of the Brighton theatre company Dream, Think, Speak.
Bextor has also had a successful career as a writer, writing for newspapers and magazines and the book to accompany the TV series Crown and Country. The relationships built working with Paul McCartney and Eric Clapton over many years led to the publication of Paul McCartney Now & Then in 2004,[1] and Eric Clapton Now & Then in 2006.[9] He is also a director of Glyndebourne Productions in East Sussex specialising in films about opera.[citation needed].
In 2013 he directed a six-part TV series on London with specials on the London Underground, Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace. He also wrote The Story of the London Underground published that same year. (GU2) The following year he produced and directed Glyndebourne:the Untold History (90 mins) for BBC TV. He also wrote and directed a four-part music series The Sound of the 60's, and a book of the series published the same year. A second series The Sound of the 70's followed, as well as a series on Historic Hauntings. He has made films on 10cc (Clever Clogs), Squeeze, Cara Dillon French band AIR and The Feeling with Keifer Sutherland. He also was one of the founders alongside his daughter Sophie and son in law Richard Jones of the Meribel Music Festival in the French Alps called The Little World Festival.
Political activity[]
In the 2019 European Parliament Election in May 2019, Bextor was selected as a party list member for Change UK – The Independent Group in the South East England constituency of the United Kingdom.[10] The party did not win any seats.
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Bextor, Robin; Barrow, Tony; McCartney, Paul (2004). Newby, Julian (ed.). Paul McCartney Now & Then. Milwaukee, NY: Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-634-06919-2. LCCN 2004100968. (Short biography of Robin Bextor on p.9)
- ^ Robin Bextor at IMDb
- ^ That's Life! at IMDb
- ^ Edward on Edward at IMDb
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Peter - A Study For A Portrait Of A Serial Killer". Retrieved 5 May 2011. (See: Cast and Crew: Sanjay Kumar)
- ^ UB40: Homegrown in Holland at IMDb
- ^ "Norfolk coast". Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
- ^ "The Arts". p. 12. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
- ^ Bextor, Robin (1 January 2006). Eric Clapton Now & Then. UK: Carlton Books Ltd. p. 144. ISBN 978-1-84442-531-0.
- ^ "Change UK MEP candidates: Who's standing in the 2019 European elections, from Rachel Johnson to Gavin Esler". 24 April 2019.
External links[]
- Robin Bextor at IMDb
- 1953 births
- Living people
- Alumni of the University of Reading
- English television producers
- English film producers
- English film directors
- British music video directors
- People from Hammersmith
- Sophie Ellis-Bextor