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Allan McKeown

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Allan McKeown
McKeown at the 1990 Emmy Awards
Born
John McKeown[1]

(1946-05-21)21 May 1946
Ealing, London, England
Died24 December 2013(2013-12-24) (aged 67)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
OccupationProducer
Years active1979–2013
Spouse
​
(m. 1983)​
Children2

Allan McKeown (born John McKeown; 21 May 1946 – 24 December 2013) was a British television, film, and stage producer.[1]

Early life

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McKeown was born in Ealing, London, on 21 May 1946.[1] His parents, Edith Mabel (née Humphries) and Albert Victor McKeown, moved first to Hackney and later to Hainault, Essex, where his father served as the Clerk of Works at a new estate. Educated at Beal Grammar School in Ilford, McKeown left early to become a trainee hairdresser at Vidal Sassoon on Bond Street. He became a notable figure in the London scene of the 1960s, and in 1966, he opened his own salon. As a hairdresser, he worked on the television programme Sunday Night at the London Palladium and the films if.... (1968), Villain, and Get Carter (both 1971).[1][2][3]

Career

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Television producer

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In 1969, he changed career paths and became a producer at James Garrett and Partners, which was the largest television commercial production company in the UK at the time. He was appointed managing director shortly after joining. He eventually left to form the production company WitzEnd with Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. Initially focused on commercials, the company moved into feature film production with Porridge (released in the US as Doing Time, 1979). McKeown served as executive producer for Central Television's Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, with Clement and La Frenais as the show's main writers.[4] He was one of the first independent television producers in the UK. McKeown not only produced content in Britain through WitzEnd, but also worked in the US for all the major networks.[5] In 1986, WitzEnd acquired SelecTV, a company then primarily concerned with operating fledgling cable TV networks in the UK, and in the process became a public company. By 1988, SelecTV ceased its operations as a cable operator, disposing of all related assets. The company shifted its focus entirely to production, expanding by adding Alomo—a venture with writers Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran—to its stable of production companies. In 1990, McKeown was a founding member of the Meridian consortium, which was awarded the ITV television franchise for the South East of England.[6] McKeown was responsible for all of Meridian's comedy programming. In 1994, SelecTV (by then a cable TV channel reusing the name of the former operator) launched its own programming, consisting mainly of shows produced by McKeown and selected offerings from Yorkshire TV. In March 1996, McKeown accepted £51 million for SelecTV—now a broadcaster and a major supplier of television programming—from Pearson, then owner of the Financial Times. McKeown returned to the US to produce the HBO comedy series Tracey Takes On... for his wife, Tracey Ullman. The series went on to win seven Primetime Emmy Awards. McKeown later invested in the media industry by launching the international distribution website itstv.com, which was sold in March 2000. In 2007, McKeown launched Allan McKeown Presents, Ltd., which produced the Indian comedy series Mumbai Calling and Tracey Ullman's State of the Union (2008–10).[7]

Stage

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McKeown was involved in the West End production of Anyone For Denis? (Whitehall Theatre, 1981) via WitzEnd Productions, and the Broadway production of The Big Love in 1991, a one-woman show starring Ullman. He also produced the highly successful Jerry Springer: The Opera, winning an Olivier Award for Best Musical. Additionally, he produced Lennon, a musical based on the life of John Lennon.[8][9]

Personal life

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McKeown married actress Tracey Ullman in 1983. The couple had two children and maintained residences in both England and the United States. In 2006, McKeown and Ullman topped the "Wealthiest British Comedians" list, with an estimated combined net worth of £75 million.[10]

Death

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McKeown died from prostate cancer in Los Angeles on 24 December 2013, at the age of 67.[6]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Notes
1979 Porridge Producer

Television

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Year Title Notes
1979 Doing Time Producer
To Russia... With Elton Documentary short; producer
1980–1981 The Other 'Arf TV series; executive producer
1981–1983 Astronauts TV series; executive producer
1982 Dead Ernest TV series; executive producer
Shine on Harvey Moon TV series; executive producer
P.O.S.H TV short; executive producer
A Cut Above TV pilot; executive producer
1983 Sunset Limousine TV movie; producer
1983–1986 Auf Wiedersehen, Pet TV series; executive producer
1985 Mog TV series; executive producer
Roll Over Beethoven TV series; executive producer
1985–1986 Girls on Top TV series; executive producer
1986–1994 Lovejoy TV series; executive producer
1988 Jake's Journey TV movie; producer
1989–1994 Birds of a Feather TV series; executive producer
1990 Freddie and Max TV series; executive producer
1991 So You Think You've Got Troubles TV series; producer
1992 Love Hurts TV series; executive producer
The Old Boy Network TV series; executive producer
Stand by Your Man TV series; executive producer
1993 Tracey Ullman: A Class Act Executive producer
Full Stretch TV series; executive producer
Westbeach TV series; executive producer
Over the Rainbow TV series; executive producer
Tracey Ullman Takes on New York Executive producer
1993–1996 Goodnight Sweetheart TV series; executive producer
1994 The New Statesman TV series; executive producer
1994–1995 Men of the World TV series; executive producer
1994–1996 Pie in the Sky TV series; executive producer
1995 Sometime, Never TV series; executive producer
An Independent Man TV series; executive producer
1996–1999 Tracey Takes On... TV series; creator; executive producer
2001–2002 Tracey Ullman's Visible Panty Lines TV series; executive producer
2003 Tracey Ullman in the Trailer Tales Executive producer
2005 Jerry Springer: The Opera Executive producer
Tracey Ullman: Live and Exposed Executive producer
2007–2008 Mumbai Calling TV series; writer; executive producer
2008–2010 Tracey Ullman's State of the Union TV series; executive producer

Theatre

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Year Title Notes
1991 The Big Love
2005 Jerry Springer: The Opera
Lennon

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 Hayward, Anthony; La Frenais, Ian (31 December 2013). "Allan McKeown obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  2. ↑ BBC News (27 December 2013). "Allan McKeown obituary". BBC. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  3. ↑ Telegraph.co.uk (29 December 2013). "Allan McKeown - obituary". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  4. ↑ Stephenson, John-Paul (27 December 2013). "Auf Wiedersehen Pet producer Allan McKeown dies". GiggleBeats. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  5. ↑ THR Staff (29 December 2013). "Tracey Ullman's Husband, Producer Allan McKeown, Dies at 67". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  6. 1 2 Saperstein, Pat (26 December 2013). "Producer Allan McKeown Dies at 67". Variety. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  7. ↑ Maglio, Tony (26 December 2013). "Allan McKeown, Emmy Award-Winning Producer and Husband of Tracey Ullman, Dead at 67". TheWrap. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  8. ↑ IBDB (8 June 2025). "Allan McKeown - Broadway Cast & Staff". IBDB. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  9. ↑ James, Caryn (11 May 2003). "How Jerry Springer Inspired An Opera". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  10. ↑ "Where the Funny Money Is". Chortle. 29 December 2006.
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