William Gladstone Stewart (born 15 July 1935 in Habrough, Lincolnshire)[1] is an English television producer and director of comedy and game shows, now best known as the former presenter (and producer) of the Channel 4 quiz show Fifteen to One.
Contents |
In the 1960s, he worked as private secretary to Tom Driberg, about whom he made a documentary in 2009.[2]
Among the many shows he has produced or directed are Father, Dear Father, Love Thy Neighbour, Bless This House, My Good Woman, Spooner's Patch, The Rag Trade, Family Fortunes and The Price is Right. He also presented the short-lived 1992 quiz show Famous People, Famous Places, made by his company, Regent Productions (which also made Fifteen to One) for Thames Television and shown only in the London region. He later sold Regent to Pearson Television, (which, ironically, also purchased Thames) and they have now been amalgamated (along with the likes of Grundy Productions) into Talkback Thames, the UK arm of FremantleMedia.
In 1998, he successfully sued a Fifteen to One contestant who had lied to get onto the programme.[3]
His catchphrases were: "That's it for today, we'll be back tomorrow, see you then."
"That's it for this week, we'll be back on Monday, see you then."
"Two questions each in the first round, one correct answer from you to survive."
"No place on the finals board but well done."
In 1997, he married his third wife Laura Calland — the voice-over artist from Fifteen to One. His first marriage was to Audrey Harrison (1960–76); his second wife was actress Sally Geeson (1976–86). He had his eldest child, Nick, by Harrison. He has two children by Geeson, who starred in Bless This House, called Barnaby and Hayley. He also has two more children by Calland named Isobel and Hannah, and also has a nephew, Alistair, and two nieces, Lucy and Helena. He also has a grandson named Rhys who is the son of Barney.
Stewart is a long-standing supporter of the campaign to return the Elgin Marbles to Greece.[4] He joked that if, on an episode of Fifteen to One, too few contestants survived the first round to continue the game, he would give a speech on the Marbles to fill the time.
He is an avid Manchester United fan, and has been a supporter of the club since childhood. He attributes this to meeting a boy during the Second World War who claimed his father played for the club. Many years later, he met Sir Matt Busby, who checked the club's records and discovered that the boy's father had never played for the side. Nevertheless, he continued to support them.
Stewart is a keen bee keeper and member of the British Beekeepers' Association.
He is good friends with Nicholas Parsons. This was often referred to when a Nicholas Parsons related question was asked on Fifteen to One. He is also a keen morris-dancer.
In 2007, he made a return to television on the new National Lottery show The People's Quiz.