During the
1930s Winnick was a saxophonist and violinist who had formed his own band and began
broadcasting with his Piccadilly Hotel Band, modelling his sound on that of Guy
Lombardo. Playing with his later Dorchester Hotel Band was Ted Heath and both
Don Lusher, Robert Farnon and Norrie Paramor were, at one time or another, employed
by Winnick. Featured vocalists included Al Bowlly, Sam Costa, Harry Bentley,
Judy Shirley, Vera Lynn, Hughie Diamond and Ronnie Odell. The Maurice Winnick
Orchestra continued to broadcast regularly on the Light Programme until 1950.
After the
war Winnick eventually disbanded his own orchestra and became an impresario and
a leading packager of programmes for radio and television, buying the UK rights
for US produced series. The phrase “by arrangement with Maurice Winnick” was
heard on BBC radio programmes such as Ignorance
is Bliss (first aired in 1946), based on the US series It Pays to be Ignorant, Twenty
Questions (1947) and The Name’s the
Same (1953), also based on an American original format. For BBC television
there was What’s My Line (1951) - a
radio version was also produced, for Radio Luxembourg, between 1952 and 1955.
In 1954
Winnick was part of the Kemsley-Winnick consortium bidding for the newly advertised
commercial television contract for weekends in the Midlands and the North; an
alliance with Sunday Times owner Lord
Kemsley and Isaac Wolfson of Great Universal Stores, with John McMillan, formerly
Chief Assistant on the Light Programme, as General Manager. Winnick’s
involvement came about from an introduction by Kemsley’s stepdaughter Ghislaine
Alexander, who had been a panellist on What’s
My Line.
The individuals
concerned in the bid didn’t get on with each other and eventually Wolfson left
and then Kemsley pulled the plug by withdrawing his financial support. The ITA
went on to award the licence to the Associated British Picture Corporation (broadcasting
as ABC Television). However, Winnick did
make it to commercial television in a way, as he produced at least two of their many early
game shows: Two for the Money (1956-7)
and I've Got a Secret (1956) with regular panellists Jon Pertwee, Catherine Boyle, Dick Bentley and Zoe Gail, both series based on US formats.
Maurice
Winnick died, after a long illness, in 1962 aged 60.
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