Allan McKeown

British television and stage producer (1946–2013)

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Allan McKeown

McKeown at the 1990 Emmy Awards

Born|

John Allan McKeown[1]

(1946-05-21)21 May 1946

Ealing, London, England

Died| 24 December 2013(2013-12-24) (aged 67)

Los Angeles, California, US

Occupation| Producer
Years active| 1979–2013
Spouse|

Tracey Ullman

(m. 1983)​

Children| 2

Allan McKeown (born John Allan McKeown; 21 May 1946 – 24 December 2013) was a British television and stage producer.[1]

## Early life

[edit]

McKeown was born in Ealing, London[1] on 21 May 1946. His parents Edith Mabel (née Humphries) and Albert Victor McKeown moved first to Hackney and then to Hainault, Essex. His father was the Clerk of Works at the new estate. Educated at Beal Grammar school in Ilford, he left early and became a trainee hairdresser at Vidal Sassoon in Bond Street. He was a figure in the London scene of the 1960s, and in 1966 he opened his own salon. As a hairdresser, he worked on the TV show Sunday Night at the London Palladium and the films if.... (1968), Villain and Get Carter (both 1971).[1]

## Television producer

[edit]

In 1969, he changed course and became a producer at James Garrett and Partners, at the time the largest TV commercials producer in the UK. He was appointed managing director shortly after joining. He left to form a production company WitzEnd with Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. Initially making commercials, then the feature film Porridge (US: Doing Time, 1979). McKeown was the executive producer for Central Television's Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, with Clement and La Frenais as the show's main writers.[2]

He was one of the first independent television producers in the UK. McKeown not only produced in Britain with his company, WitzEnd, but also produced in the US for all of the networks. In 1986, Witzend acquired SelecTV, a company at that time primarily concerned with operating then-novel cable TV networks in the UK, and in the process became a public company. By 1988, all interest in SelecTV continuing as a cable operator was dropped, with the disposal of all related assets. The company was now solely focussed on production, and grew as it added Alomo, a venture with writers Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran to its stable of production companies. In 1990, McKeown was a founding member of the Meridian consortium. The consortium was awarded the ITV television franchise for the South East of England.

McKeown was responsible for all of Meridian's comedy programming. In 1994 SelecTV (a cable TV channel re-using the name of the former operator) launched its programming, mainly programs produced by McKeown and selected Yorkshire TV offerings. In March 1996, McKeown accepted £51 million for SelecTV, now a broadcaster and a major supplier of television programs, from Pearson, then owner of the Financial Times. McKeown returned to the US producing the HBO comedy series, Tracey Takes On... for wife, Tracey Ullman. The series won six Emmy Awards. McKeown invested in the media launching web site itstv.com, an international distribution web site. The company was sold in March 2000. In 2007, McKeown launched Allan McKeown Presents, Ltd. The company produced the Indian comedy series, Mumbai Calling as well as Tracey Ullman's State of the Union (2008–10).

## Stage

[edit]

McKeown was involved in the West End production of Anyone For Denis? (Whitehall Theatre, 1981) via Witzend Productions, and the Broadway show, The Big Love in 1991, a one-woman show starring Ullman.[citation needed] He produced the highly successful Jerry Springer: The Opera, winning an Olivier Award for Best Musical. He also produced Lennon, a musical based on the life of John Lennon.

## Personal life

[edit]

McKeown and Tracey Ullman married in 1983. They had two children and lived in both England and the United States. In 2006, McKeown and Ullman topped the "Wealthiest British Comedians" list, with an estimated net worth of £75 million.[3]

## Death

[edit]

McKeown died of prostate cancer in Los Angeles on Christmas Eve 2013, at the age of 67.[4]

## Filmography

[edit]

### Television

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Notes

|
|

1979  | Doing Time | Producer
To Russia... With Elton | Documentary short; producer
1980–1981  | The Other 'Arf | TV series; executive producer
1981–1983  | Astronauts | TV series; executive producer
1982  | Dead Ernest | TV series; executive producer
Shine on Harvey Moon | TV series; executive producer
P.O.S.H | TV short; executive producer
1983  | Sunset Limousine | TV movie; producer
1983–1986  | Auf Wiedersehen, Pet | TV series; executive producer
1985  | Mog | TV series; executive producer
Roll Over Beethoven | TV series; executive producer
1985–1986  | Girls on Top | TV series; executive producer
1986–1994  | Lovejoy | TV series; executive producer
1988  | Jake's Journey | TV movie; producer
1989–1994  | Birds of a Feather | TV series; executive producer
1990  | Freddie and Max | TV series; executive producer
1991  | So You Think You've Got Troubles | TV series; producer
1992  | Love Hurts | TV series; executive producer
The Old Boy Network | TV series; executive producer
Stand by Your Man | TV series; executive producer
1993  | Tracey Ullman: A Class Act | Executive producer
Full Stretch | TV series; executive producer
Westbeach | TV series; executive producer
Over the Rainbow | TV series; executive producer
Tracey Ullman Takes on New York | Executive producer
1993–1996  | Goodnight Sweetheart | TV series; executive producer
1994  | The New Statesman | TV series; executive producer
1994–1995  | Men of the World | TV series; executive producer
1994–1996  | Pie in the Sky | TV series; executive producer
1995  | Sometime, Never | TV series; executive producer
An Independent Man | TV series; executive producer
1996–1999  | Tracey Takes On... | TV series; creator; executive producer
2001–2002  | Tracey Ullman's Visible Panty Lines | TV series; executive producer
2003  | Tracey Ullman in the Trailer Tales | Executive producer
2005  | Jerry Springer: The Opera | Executive producer
Tracey Ullman: Live and Exposed | Executive producer
2007–2008  | Mumbai Calling | TV series; writer; executive producer
2008–2010  | Tracey Ullman's State of the Union | TV series; executive producer

### Film

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Notes

|
|

1979  | Porridge | Producer

### Theatre

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Notes

|
|

1991  | The Big Love |
2005  | Jerry Springer: The Opera |
Lennon |

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Hayward, Anthony; La Frenais, Ian (31 December 2013). "Allan McKeown obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
2. ^ Stephenson, John-Paul (27 December 2013). "Auf Wiedersehen Pet producer Allan McKeown dies". GiggleBeats. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
3. ^ "Where the funny money is". Chortle. 29 December 2006.
4. ^ Saperstein, Pat (26 December 2013). "Producer Allan McKeown Dies at 67". Variety. Retrieved 29 December 2013.

## External links

[edit]

* Allan McKeown at IMDb
* Allan McKeown at the Internet Broadway Database
* Allan McKeown – obituary – The Telegraph
* Allan John McKeown Memorial Tribute Archived 13 February 2019 at the Wayback Machine

* v
* t
* e

Tracey Ullman

* Filmography
* Discography
* Awards and nominations

Television series|

* The Tracey Ullman Show (1987–90)
* Tracey Takes On... (1996–99)
* Tracey Ullman's Visible Panty Lines (2001–02)
* Tracey Ullman's State of the Union (2008–2010)
* Tracey Ullman's Show (2016–18)
* Tracey Breaks the News (2017–18)

Television specials|

* Tracey Ullman: A Class Act (1993)
* Tracey Ullman Takes on New York (1993)
* Tracey Ullman in the Trailer Tales (2003)
* Tracey Ullman: Live and Exposed (2005)
* Tracey Breaks the News (2017)

Characters|

* Kay Clark
* Ruby Romaine

Studio albums|

* You Broke My Heart in 17 Places (1983)
* You Caught Me Out (1984)

Singles|

* "Breakaway" (1983)
* "They Don't Know" (1983)
* "Move Over Darling" (1983)
* "My Guy" (1984)
* "Sunglasses" (1984)
* "Terry" (1985)
* "You Caught Me Out" (1985)

Books|

* Tracey Takes On

See also|

* Allan McKeown
* Purple Skirt
* Allan McKeown Presents
* The Simpsons shorts

* Category

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