Eric Maschwitz
Albert Eric Maschwitz OBE (
10 June 1901–
27 October 1969), known as
Eric Maschwitz and sometimes credited as
Holt Marvell, was a
British entertainer, writer, broadcaster and broadcasting executive.....
Born in
Edgbaston,
Birmingham, the son of
Lithuanian immigrants, Maschwitz was educated at
Repton School and
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.
As a lyricist, Maschwitz wrote the
screenplays of several successful films in the
1930s and
40s, but is perhaps best remembered today for his lyrics to
1940s popular songs such as "
A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" and "
These Foolish Things".
Maschwitz started his stage acting career in the early
1920s and joined the
BBC in
1926. His first
radio show was
In Town Tonight and his first television show was
The Black and White Minstrel Show. In
1939, he went to
Hollywood under contract to
MGM, where he worked on
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (for which he shared an
Academy Award nomination) and
Queen of Song, among other successful
films.
During the
Second World War, he served with the
Intelligence Corps and became Chief Broadcasting Officer with the 21st
Army Group. He left the
army as a
Lieutenant-Colonel.
In 1958, at the start of the
BBC/
ITV ratings wars, he rejoined the
BBC as
Head of Television Light Entertainment. About the job he said, "I don't think the BBC is a cultural organisation. We've got to please the people. The job of a man putting on a show is to get an audience." Maschwitz left to join the rival
ITV in
1963.
During the course of his varied entertainment career, Maschwitz also adapted French comedies such as
Thirteen For Dinner; wrote the book and lyrics for numerous musicals, amongst them
Balalaika,
Summer Song,
The Ghost Train and
Zip Goes a Million; and created
Café Collette. He also edited the
Radio Times, and even turned his hand to the detective novel:
Death at Broadcasting House, co-written with
Val Gielgud and published in 1931, revolves around a radio play disrupted by the murder of one of the cast.
Maschwitz was married twice: firstly to
Hermione Gingold, who was granted a divorce in
1945, and then immediately to
Phyllis Gordon who remained his wife until his death.
He was created an
Officer of the British Empire in 1936.
