Rebecca Eaton (born November 7, 1947) is an American television producer best known for introducing American audiences to British costume and countryside dramas as executive producer of the PBS Masterpiece series.
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Eaton was born in Boston and raised in Pasadena, California, her father a Caltech English literature professor, and her mother, Katherine Emery, an actress both on Broadway (in Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour) and in film. Eaton recalls visiting New York every summer to see Broadway shows, as well as spending her junior high school days lost in Jane Eyre.[1]
Eaton attended Vassar, graduating in 1969 with a BA in English literature. Her senior thesis was on James Joyce's The Dubliners. In 1969-1970, she was a production assistant for the BBC World Service in London. Returning to the U.S., she was in 1972 hired by WGBH in Boston, there producing Pantechnicon (a radio arts magazine) and the television programs Zoom and Enterprise.[1]
In 1985, after the death of Masterpiece's original executive producer Joan Wilson (whose credits included Upstairs, Downstairs, I Claudius, the Jewel in the Crown, and other iconic series), Eaton was named as head of the popular franchise, then called "Masterpiece Theatre" and "Mystery!".[1]
Under Eaton, Masterpiece extended its reach into feature film co-production, for such films as Jane Austen's Persuasion and Mrs. Brown, starring Dame Judi Dench.[1]
By 2011, she had been executive producer of the show for more than 25 of its 40 years on the air.[2]
Eaton married in 1984 sculptor Paul Robert Cooper. The couple's daughter was born shortly before Eaton was named executive producer of Masterpiece. She credits her husband's willingness to stay at home with having advanced her career.[1]
Since becoming executive producer of Masterpiece in 1985, Eaton is credited with producing for American audiences series that include[2][1]
Eaton's honors include 31 Primetime Emmy Awards, 15 Peabody Awards, a Golden Globe, and two Academy Award nominations (for the Masterpiece co-production, Mrs. Brown. Queen Elizabeth II has honored her with an honorary OBE (Officer, Order of the British Empire).[3] In 2011 she was one of Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World".[2]