Lew Grade
Lew Grade, Baron Grade, (born
Lev Winogradsky; 25 December 1906 – 13 December 1998) was a
Russian-born
British media proprietor and
impresario. Originally a dancer, and later a
talent agent, Grade's interest in television production began in 1954 when he founded the
Incorporated Television Company (ITC; commonly known as ITC Entertainment) to distribute programmes, and following the success of ''
The Adventures of Robin Hood'' decided to focus on bringing them to the American market. Grade had some success in this field with such series as
Gerry Anderson's many
Supermarionation series such as ''
Thunderbirds'',
Patrick McGoohan's ''
The Prisoner'', and
Jim Henson's ''
The Muppet Show''. Later, Grade invested in feature film production, but several expensive
box-office failures caused him to lose control of ITC, and ultimately resulted in the disestablishment of ATV after it lost its ITV franchise.
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