Michael Grade
Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth, CBE (born 8 March 1943) is an English television executive and businessman. He has held a number of senior roles in television, including controller of BBC1 (1984–1986), chief executive of Channel 4 (1988–1997), chairman of the board of governors of the BBC (2004–2006), and executive chairman of ITV plc (2007–2009).[1] He sat as a Conservative Party life peer in the House of Lords from 2011 until after his appointment as Chair of Ofcom.
The Lord Grade of Yarmouth
Maggie Carver (acting)
The Lord Ryder of Wensum (acting)
Anthony Salz (acting)
8 March 1943
London, England
Conservative (until 2022)
-
Penelope Levinson(m. 1967; div. 1981)
-
Francesca Leahy(m. 1998)
3
- Leslie Grade (father)
- Lew Grade (uncle)
- Bernard Delfont (uncle)
Television executive, businessman
Early life[edit]
Grade was born into a Jewish show business family originally called Winogradsky.[3] His father was the theatrical agent Leslie Grade, and his uncles were the impresarios Lew Grade and Bernard Delfont.[4] When he was three years old, his non-Jewish mother (Lynn Smith) left the family to conduct a relationship with wrestling commentator Kent Walton. Grade was brought up by his paternal grandmother, and he only saw his mother once more as an adult.[3] He was educated at Stowe School in Buckinghamshire and St Dunstan's College in London.