Dennis Main Wilson
Born
Dennis Geoffrey William Wilson[1]

(1924-05-01)1 May 1924
Dulwich, London, England[2]
Died20 January 1997(1997-01-20) (aged 72)[3]
Surrey, England
Occupation(s)Radio and television producer

Dennis Geoffrey William Wilson, known as Dennis Main Wilson[1] (1 May 1924 – 20 January 1997)[4] was a British producer of radio and television programmes, mainly for the BBC. Main Wilson has been described by Screenonline as "arguably the most important and influential of all comedy producers/directors in British radio and television".[5]

Life and career

Dennis Geoffrey William Wilson was born at Dulwich, London, the son of mechanical engineer George Arthur Main Wilson and Violet Rose (née Bayley). He was educated at Colfe's School in Lewisham.[1]

After wartime work for the German service of the BBC, he worked in comedy. He was producer of The Goon Show's first two series. Spike Milligan, aware of Main Wilson's predilection for consuming alcohol, affectionately nicknamed him "Dennis Main Drain".[6][7] Subsequently he produced the first four series of Hancock's Half Hour[8] on radio, before leaving to train in television. Till Death Us Do Part, also for the BBC, is his best remembered television work.

Other shows he produced include Sykes and a... with Eric Sykes and Hattie Jacques, Here's Harry with Harry Worth, It's Marty starring Marty Feldman and The Rag Trade (which he also directed). He had less success with Private Eye TV, an attempt to turn the magazine Private Eye into a television programme.

In 1976, a scene-shifter at the BBC handed him a script he had written. Main Wilson turned it into Citizen Smith. The scene-shifter was John Sullivan, who later wrote Just Good Friends, Dear John and Only Fools and Horses. Main Wilson gave TV breaks to Stephen Fry,[6] Hugh Laurie, Griff Rhys Jones and Emma Thompson.

Main Wilson died of lung cancer at the age of 72.

Personal life

In 1955, Main Wilson married Sylvia Harkin; the couple had a son and a daughter.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/64701. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ Only Fools and Horses, Author: Graham McCann, Canongate Books 2011, p.21
  3. ^ Took, Barry (23 January 1997). "Obituary: Dennis Main Wilson". The Independent. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  4. ^ GRO Register of Deaths: JAN 1997 A1B 212 WEST SURREY - Dennis Main Wilson, DoB = 1 May 1924, aged 72
  5. ^ BFI screenonline, Wilson, Dennis Main (1924-1997) Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  6. ^ a b Fry, Stephen (25 August 2011). The Fry Chronicles. Penguin Books Limited. p. 237. ISBN 9780141039800 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ Lewis, Roger (25 August 1995). The Life and Death of Peter Sellers. Arrow. p. 196. ISBN 9780099747000 – via Google Books.
  8. ^ Stevens, Christopher (2010). Born Brilliant: The Life Of Kenneth Williams. John Murray. p. 360. ISBN 978-1-84854-195-5.
  9. ^ "Obituary: Dennis Main Wilson". Independent.co.uk. 23 October 2011.

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