Alan Yentob Has Died

Summary

British television executive and presenter (1947–2025) Alan YentobYentob in 2017Born(1947-03-11)11 March 1947Died24 May 2025(2025-05-24) (aged 78)EducationUniversity of LeedsOccupation(s)Television executive, broadcasterEmployerBBCTitleController of BBC2 (1987–1993)Controller of BBC1 (1993–1996)SpousePhilippa WalkerChildren2 Alan Yentob (11 March 1947 – 24 May 2025) was a British television executive and presenter. He held senior roles at the BBC including head of music and arts, controller of BBC1 and controller of BBC2. He was the BBC's creative director from 2004 until 2015, and was chairman of the board of trustees of the charity Kids Company from 2003 until its collapse in 2015. Yentob was born into an Iraqi Jewish family in Stepney, London, the son of Flora Esther (née Khazam) and Isaac Reuben Yentob.[1] Soon after he was born, his family moved to Manchester where his father was in business with his wife's family, the Khazams. One example of this collaboration were dealings in Haighton Holdings, published 1951, that shows involvement of his mother, father and uncle Nadji Khazam.[2] Together they were involved in the UK with various other textile manufacturers plus wholesalers such as Spencer, Turner & Boldero and Jeremiah Rotherham & Co.[3][4] The families also had dealings in South Africa with their holding company Anglo-African Investments.[5] The public companies were eventually shed and a few consolidated into Dewhurst Dent, in which Alan Yentob still owned a 10% share.[6][7] Yentob grew up in Didsbury, a suburb of Manchester and returned to London with his family when he was 12 to live in a flat on Park Lane.[8] He was a boarder at the independent school King's Ely in Cambridgeshire. He passed his A Levels and studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and spent a year at Grenoble University. He went on to study law at University of Leeds, where he became involved in student drama. He graduated with a lower second class degree (2:2) in 1968.[9] Yentob joined the BB...