Val Parnell

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Val Parnell
Born	Valentine Charles Parnell February 14, 1892(1892-02-14) London, England
Died	September 22, 1972 (aged 80) France
Occupation	Theatre and music hall impresario, television executive

Valentine Charles Parnell (14 February 1892 – 22 September 1972), best known simply as Val Parnell, was a British television producer and theatrical impresario.

[edit] Life and Career

Parnell was born in London on Valentine's Day in 1892. He began his theatrical career at age 13 by working as an office boy for a music-hall circuit. By 1945 he had become Managing Director of the Moss Empire music hall circuit, in charge of some of London's most prestigious theatres.

He auditioned and signed a twelve-year-old Julie Andrews for her first professional performance and introduced her to her manager, Charles Tucker, aka Uncle Charlie Tucker ^[1].

In 1956 he was appointed Managing Director of Associated TeleVision. He took a personal interest in the station's output and presented the weekly musical variety show, Val Parnell's Sunday Night at the London Palladium, until 1965.

He resigned his position at ATV in 1962 to make way for Lew Grade and retired in 1966.

[edit] Later life

He died in France in 1972.

[edit] References

Persondata
NAME	Parnell, Val
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Parnell, Valentine Charles
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Impresario
DATE OF BIRTH	1892-02-14
PLACE OF BIRTH	London, England
DATE OF DEATH	1972-09-22
PLACE OF DEATH	France