Lew Grade — media tycoon with roots in the Russian Empire
Lew Grade (born Lev Winogradsky) was one of the most powerful figures in British entertainment history — a talent agent turned television mogul who built Associated Television (ATV) and ITV into global forces, producing The Muppet Show, The Saint, and dozens of other landmark programmes. He was the brother of Bernard Delfont and Leslie Grade.
Tracing the roots — Russian Empire
Born in Tokmak (Russian Empire, now Ukraine) in 1906, Lew and his brothers arrived in Britain as Jewish refugees from the Russian Empire and rose from poverty to the summits of British entertainment. His energy, his cigar, his famously bad poker hand, and his unerring instinct for global entertainment made him a legend — and one of the greatest immigrant success stories in British cultural history.
A career defined by ambition
"All my shows are great. Some of them are bad. But they are all great."