John Leslie "Gerard" Glaister DFC (21 December 1915[1] – 5 February 2005)[2] was a British television producer and director best known for his work with the BBC. Amongst his most notable successes as a producer were Colditz, The Brothers,[3] Secret Army and Howards' Way.
After studying at RADA, Glaister made his West End debut in 1939. With the outbreak of war, he joined the Royal Air Force, initially flying a Blenheim bomber and later serving as a photo reconnaissance pilot in 208 Squadron RAF in the Western Desert initially flying Westland Lysanders. It was during these latter duties that he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for a hazardous reconnaissance flight in an unarmed Hurricane at extremely low level across the Italian front line. Glaister later drew on his RAF experiences when, in 1963, he produced Moonstrike, a drama about an RAF squadron which ferried agents in and out of occupied Europe in Westland Lysanders. From 1962, he worked on the popular Dr Finlay's Casebook.[1] His 1968 production The Expert is based on the work of his uncle, forensic scientist Prof John Glaister FRSE.[4]
Glaister's success ended with the 1991 series Trainer,[1] which was moved from prime time to a weeknight slot because of its perceived failure. However, it sold well overseas.[5]
Glaister was married three times and had three daughters, two from his final marriage, to Joan.[1]
Filmography[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Gerard Glaister". 24 February 2005. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/feb/24/broadcasting.guardianobituaries.
- ↑ Harris M. Lentz III (24 October 2008). Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2005: Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture. McFarland. pp. 140. ISBN 978-0-7864-5210-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=_nvGCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA140.
- ↑ Paul Cornell; Martin Day; Keith Topping (1996). The Guinness Book of Classic British TV. Guinness. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-85112-628-9. https://books.google.com/books?id=06YHAQAAMAAJ.
- ↑ http://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/medicine/aboutus/history/ourfamousscholars/theglaisters/
- ↑ Rhys Williams & David Lister (1 March 1999). "Eldorado for the BBC as the world pays a fortune to watch its flops". https://www.independent.co.uk/news/eldorado-for-the-bbc-as-the-world-pays-a-fortune-to-watch-its-flops-1077601.html.
External links[]
- Gerard Glaister at the Internet Movie Database
- Obituary Screen online
The original article can be found at Gerard Glaister and the edit history here.