| Beryl Vertue | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Television producer |
| Children | Debbie Vertue |
Beryl Vertue is an English television producer and media executive. She is founder and chairman of the independent television production company Hartswood Films.
As a former school friend of writer Alan Simpson, she was invited to join what was soon to become "Associated London Scripts" as a secretary-cum-girl Friday. She later found that she had become an agent, almost by stealth, representing comedy writers Spike Milligan, Eric Sykes, Johnny Speight, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, and Terry Nation (for whom she famously negotiated to partially keep his rights to his Dalek creation for Doctor Who). She also represented comedians Tony Hancock and Frankie Howerd.[1]
In 1967 she joined the Stigwood Organisation, specialising in selling British television formats to America. Notable successes include Steptoe and Son, which became Sanford and Son in the US, and Til Death Us Do Part, which became All in the Family in the US.[2]
In the 1980s she formed Hartswood Films and produced many comedies including Men Behaving Badly, Is It Legal? and Coupling. The latter was produced by her daughter Sue Vertue and written by son-in-law Steven Moffat. She also served as executive producer of their dramatic series Sherlock.
She received the OBE for services to television in the 2000 New Year's Honours List. In 2004, BAFTA awarded her the Alan Clarke Award for Outstanding Creative Contribution to Television. [1]