Yentob, a 'defining figure' in British culture, dies aged 78

Alan Yentob, the broadcaster, programme-maker and longtime BBC executive, has died aged 78. The news was shared by Yentob’s family, who said he died on Saturday.

- ROISIN O'CONNOR

“For Jacob, Bella and I every day with Alan held the promise of something unexpected,” his wife Philippa Walker said. “Our life was exciting, he was exciting. He was curious, funny, annoying, late and creative in every cell of his body. But more than that, he was the kindest of men and a profoundly moral man. He leaves in his wake a trail of love a mile wide.”

In a lengthy statement, BBC director-general Tim Davie said: “Alan Yentob was a towering figure in British broadcasting and the arts. A creative force and a cultural visionary, he shaped decades of programming at the BBC and beyond, with a passion for storytelling and public service that leave a lasting legacy.

“For nearly 60 years Alan championed originality, risk-taking and artistic ambition. From Arena to Ima ne, from commissioning groundbreaking drama to giving emerging voices a platform, his influence is woven into the fabric of British cultural life.”

Davie said that Yentob believed “profoundly in the BBC’s role as a home for creativity, curiosity and the arts, accessible to all”. He described the broadcaster as an “unforgettable presence” who was “engaging, witty and endlessly curious, he brought energy and warmth to every conversation. He was generous with his time, fierce in his convictions, and full of joy in the work of others”.

Yentob was born in London in 1947 to a family that had left Iraq for Manchester. He grew up in Didsbury until he was 12. The family then moved back to London and Yentob went on to study law at the University of Leeds, where he became heavily involved in drama. He joined the BBC in 1968 as a general trainee. At the time, he was the only non-Oxbridge graduate and took his first job with the corporation’s World Service.

In 1975, he secured unprecedented access to David Bowie for Cracked Actor, by the BBC’s