Biography
Beryl Vertue - Executive
Producer
One of Britain's most respected producers, Beryl has an enviable track
record of international success.
Originally an agent for renowned comedy writers Spike Milligan, Eric
Sykes, Ray Galton, Alan Simpson and Johnny Speight, and comedy stars Tony
Hancock and Frankie Howerd, in the early Sixties she formed Associated
London Films.
There she was associate producer on The Spy With A Cold Nose, executive
producer on the silent comedy The Plank starring Eric Sykes and Tommy
Cooper, followed by the feature film versions of Till Death Us Do Part,
Steptoe And Son, Up Pompeii and a score of comparable films.
In 1967 Robert Stigwood invited Beryl to join his company where she became
deputy chairman and pioneered the original concept of selling basic television
formats to Europe and America.
Two such formats became big hits in the USA -Till Death Us Do Part became
Norman Lear's long-running series All In The Family, whilst Steptoe And
Son became Sanford And Son.
Beryl then produced several star-studded Movies of the Week for all three
American Networks.
She produced the Beacon Hill series, based on Upstairs Downstairs for
CBS, and Almost Anything Goes based on It's A Knockout for ABC.
Beryl's early producing credits include the series The Prime Of Miss
Jean Brodie and, one of her favourite achievements, executive producer
on the film Tommy starring Jack Nicholson, The Who, Elton John, Eric Clapton
and Tina Turner.
In the Eighties, Beryl left the Stigwood Organisation to form Hartswood
Films, which has since become one of the UK's leading independent producers.
Her television credits include:
For comedy - six series and several specials of the multi-award-winning
Men Behaving Badly; My Good Friend; Is It Legal?; four series of Coupling
for Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ TWO; and Carrie & Barry for Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ ONE.
The Format of Coupling was sold to NBC for an American series.
For drama - Code Name Kyril; A Woman's Guide To Adultery; The English
Wife; Wonderful You and Border Cafe.
Documentaries include - Going To Chelsea; Officers And Gentlemen; The
Red Baron; In Love With Elizabeth; The War Behind The Wire; and The Welsh
Great Escape.
Later this year Beryl will be producing a theatrical film, Me Again,
a comedy thriller written by Steven Moffat to be directed by Stephen Hopkins
(The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, 24).
Beryl received an OBE in the 2000 New Year's Honours List for Services
to Independent Television Production.
She is a Fellow of the Royal Television Society and also in the RTS Hall
of Fame.
This year she received a Bafta, the Alan Clarke Award for Outstanding
Creative Contribution to Television.
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