Documentary filmmaker and drama-documentary pioneer
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Key moments and achievements from Leslie Woodhead's life.
Leslie was born
Filming
A Granada Television crew filmed the Beatles' lunchtime performance of Some Other Guy at the Cavern Club for a programme called Know The North, the first time television cameras filmed the band performing. Woodhead, then a young researcher scouting northern stories, saw them play there; the footage was judged too grainy to broadcast and was first shown on November 6, 1963, on Scene at 6.30.
Filming
A Granada Television crew filmed the Beatles' lunchtime performance of Some Other Guy at the Cavern Club for a programme called Know The North, the first time television cameras filmed the band performing. Woodhead, then a young researcher scouting northern stories, saw them play there; the footage was judged too grainy to broadcast and was first shown on November 6, 1963, on Scene at 6.30.
Broadcast
Woodhead organised the Beatles' television debut on Granada's news magazine People and Places, eight weeks after the shelved Cavern filming.
Broadcast
Woodhead organised the Beatles' television debut on Granada's news magazine People and Places, eight weeks after the shelved Cavern filming.
Documentary
Produced and directed the documentary of the Rolling Stones' free open-air concert in Hyde Park, played to a crowd reported at up to 500,000.
Documentary
Produced and directed the documentary of the Rolling Stones' free open-air concert in Hyde Park, played to a crowd reported at up to 500,000.
Innovation
His reconstruction of the story of Soviet general turned dissident Petro Grigorenko, told with actors because no western crew could film it, launched the British drama-documentary. He went on to build Granada's drama-documentary unit, which won a top Royal Television Society award.
Innovation
His reconstruction of the story of Soviet general turned dissident Petro Grigorenko, told with actors because no western crew could film it, launched the British drama-documentary. He went on to build Granada's drama-documentary unit, which won a top Royal Television Society award.
Documentary
His first film for Granada's anthropological series Disappearing World featured the Mursi cattle-herders of south-west Ethiopia. He returned to the Mursi repeatedly through 2001, and five of the films were awarded a prize by the Royal Anthropological Institute.
Documentary
His first film for Granada's anthropological series Disappearing World featured the Mursi cattle-herders of south-west Ethiopia. He returned to the Mursi repeatedly through 2001, and five of the films were awarded a prize by the Royal Anthropological Institute.
Award
Received Bafta's Desmond Davis award for outstanding creative contributions to television. He was later appointed OBE in 1992.
Award
Received Bafta's Desmond Davis award for outstanding creative contributions to television. He was later appointed OBE in 1992.
Award
The actor Bill Nighy presented Woodhead with the Aldeburgh Documentary Festival's first lifetime achievement award, marking his decades in documentary; he also received an etching donated by the artist Maggi Hambling.
Award
The actor Bill Nighy presented Woodhead with the Aldeburgh Documentary Festival's first lifetime achievement award, marking his decades in documentary; he also received an etching donated by the artist Maggi Hambling.
Leslie Woodhead passed away
