Dennis Main Wilson
{{short description|British producer}}
{{Other people|Dennis Wilson}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Dennis Main Wilson
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| birth_name = Dennis Geoffrey William Wilson{{Cite ODNB|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-64701|isbn = 978-0-19-861412-8|doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/64701|title = The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|year = 2004}}
| birth_date = {{birth date|1924|05|01|df=y}}
| birth_place = Dulwich, London, EnglandOnly Fools and Horses, Author: Graham McCann, Canongate Books 2011, p.21
| death_date = {{death date and age|1997|01|20|1924|05|01|df=y}}{{cite news |last1=Took |first1=Barry |title=Obituary: Dennis Main Wilson |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-dennis-main-wilson-1284641.html |accessdate=4 October 2020 |work=The Independent |date=23 January 1997}}
| death_place = Surrey, England
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| occupation = Radio and television producer
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Dennis Geoffrey William Wilson, known as Dennis Main Wilson{{Cite ODNB|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-64701|isbn = 978-0-19-861412-8|doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/64701|title = The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|year = 2004}} (1 May 1924 – 20 January 1997)GRO Register of Deaths: JAN 1997 A1B 212 WEST SURREY - Dennis Main Wilson, DoB = 1 May 1924, aged 72 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".[http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/874431/ BFI; Wilson, Dennis Main (1924-1997)], Screenonline.org.uk, Retrieved 2 October 2016.
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.{{Cite ODNB|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-64701|isbn = 978-0-19-861412-8|doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/64701|title = The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|year = 2004}}
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".{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zTA0pqmLlz8C&q=%22Dennis+Main+Wilson%22.+%22Dennis+Main+Drain%22&pg=PT237|title=The Fry Chronicles|first=Stephen|last=Fry|date=August 25, 2011|page=237|publisher=Penguin Books Limited|isbn=9780141039800|via=Google Books}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=biKazcH-dXoC&q=%22Dennis+Main+Wilson%22.+%22Dennis+Main+Drain%22&pg=PA196|title=The Life and Death of Peter Sellers|first=Roger|last=Lewis|date=August 25, 1995|page=196|publisher=Arrow|isbn=9780099747000|via=Google Books}} Subsequently he produced the first four series of Hancock's Half Hour{{cite book
|last= Stevens
|first= Christopher
|title= Born Brilliant: The Life Of Kenneth Williams
|publisher= John Murray
|year= 2010
|isbn = 978-1-84854-195-5
|page=360
}} 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, 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-dennis-main-wilson-1284641.html|title = Obituary: Dennis Main Wilson| website=Independent.co.uk |date = 23 October 2011}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/874431/index.html Screenonline on Dennis Main Wilson]
- [https://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/talent/w/wilson_dennis_main.shtml BBC Comedy Guide on Dennis Main Wilson]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070222002808/http://www.tonyhancock.org.uk/ham5art3.html Daily Telegraph obituary]
- 1991 Bectu interview [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/audio/id/946860/index.html Part 1], [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/audio/id/877635/index.html Part 2], [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/audio/id/877680/index.html part 3], [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/audio/id/946819/index.html part 4]
- {{British Comedy Guide|people|dennis_main_wilson}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Main Wilson, Dennis}}
Category:British television producers
Category:British radio producers
Category:Deaths from lung cancer in England
Category:People educated at Colfe's School