HOLY VERTUE
Beryl Vertue’s accomplished and pioneering career in British television began during the industry’s nascency, and she remained an active influence as a producer well into her 80s. It began thanks to her friendship with Alan Simpson, who secured her secretarial work for Galton and Simpson. It was soon realised that she had a knack for negotiation, and she served as an agent for a who’s who of comedy figures of the era (Milligan, Sykes, Hancock) with a pinch of sci-fi (she secured partial ownership of the Daleks for creator Terry Nation).
Bee Gees right-hand man Robert Stigwood’s own company absorbed the writers agency Vertue worked at, and she would continue to break ceilings from there under the Stigwood Organisation’s production division. She produced Eric Sykes’ silent classic The Plank and the Who’s pinball rock opera Tommy, and Norman Lear has her to thank for his entire career given Vertue sold US markets the rights to remake certain UK sitcoms. Till Death Us Do Part became All in the Family, Steptoe and Son became Sanford and Son, and I think I just heard excited cheering all the way from Michigan…
Vertue formed her own company, Hartswood Films, in 1979, but it took years to gain traction until she hit gold with defining 90s sitcom Men Behaving Badly. Daughter Sue’s marriage to future Doctor Who honcho Steven Moffat made Vertue geek royalty, and she would executive produce much of his work, including international smash hit Sherlock. Whatever’s left of Tumblr is sure to be in mourning! All in all she was both a trailblazer as one of the first women of note in her industry and a figure who continued to stay relevant as the go-to media tastes changed.
Two teams felt patience is a Vertue but instead get rewarded earlier in the year with her death aged 90, including Toast’s side team No One Gets Out Of Here Alive.
Beryl Vertue
8 April 1931 – 12 February 2022, aged 90
2 TEAMS (💀💀💀💀💀 5 POINTS)