Harold Fielding

{{Short description|English Musical artist (1916-2003)}}

{{For|the Archdeacon of Rochdale|Harold Fielding (priest)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{More citations needed|date=October 2019}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Harold Fielding

| image =

| caption =

| image_size =

| birth_name = Harold Lewis Fielding

| alias =

| birth_date = 4 December 1916

| death_date = 27 September 2003 (aged 86)

| birth_place = Woking, Surrey, England

| death_place = Kingston upon Thames, London, England

| instrument = Violin

| genre = Musical theatre

| occupation = Theatre producer

| years_active =

| label =

| associated_acts = Elaine Strich,
Ginger Rogers,
Van Johnson,
Tommy Steele,
Anne Ziegler,
Webster Booth

| website =

| spouse = {{marriage|Maisie Joyce Skivens|1955|1985|end=died}}

}}

Harold Lewis Fielding (4 December 1916{{cite book|title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of Fifties Music|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=Virgin Books|date=2002|edition=Third|isbn=1-85227-937-0|pages=133/4}} - 27 September 2003) was an English theatre producer.{{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=371

}}

Fielding was one of Britain's foremost theatrical producers who produced several musicals, including Mame, Charlie Girl, Half a Sixpence, Show Boat, Scarlett, Barnum, Sweet Charity, The Biograph Girl, and Ziegfeld. He also produced "Music for the Millions", a touring variety show.

The son of a stockbroker, Fielding was born in Woking, Surrey, England, and educated privately. As a child prodigy, he studied violin with Josef Szigeti. He also handled Tommy Steele's early career, and commissioned Half a Sixpence for him.

His office was Fielding House, 53-54 Haymarket, London.

He was interviewed by Sue Lawley on Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4 on 17 June 1990. In 1996, Fielding was awarded a Gold Badge from BASCA in recognition of his special contribution to Britain's entertainment industry.

Fielding married Maisie Joyce Skivens in 1955, and was widowed in 1985. They had no children.

He suffered a series of strokes in 1998, and retired to a private nursing home in Kingston upon Thames, where he died.{{Cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1442890/Harold-Fielding.html |title=The Daily Telegraph obituary |access-date=2018-04-02 |archive-date=2016-03-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324164302/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1442890/Harold-Fielding.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/harold-fielding-37204.html |title=The Independent obituary |website=Independent.co.uk |date=October 2003 |access-date=2020-07-10 |archive-date=2020-07-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200710164338/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/harold-fielding-37204.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article1164238.ece |title=The Times obituary |access-date=2009-03-18 |archive-date=2021-12-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211226045310/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/ |url-status=dead }}[http://www.whatsonstage.com/news/theatre/london/E8821065004405/Musicals+Impresario+Harold+Fielding+Dies,+Aged+86.html WhatsonStage obituary]