Beryl Vertue has sadly passed away aged 90 – her family have confirmed.
The BAFTA-winning TV producer was famed for producing hit shows such as comedy Men Behaving Badly – which cast stars like Martin Clunes, Neil Morrissey and Leslie Ash.
She famously founded and chaired the TV production company Hartswood Films, which spawned hit comedies like Men Behaving Badly, Coupling and Is It Legal?
She also served as the executive producer of BBC’s iconic Sherlock series – which starred Hollywood actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman.
The media executive also worked as a co-executive producer on the cinematic adaptation of The Who’s rock opera Tommy, which was directed by Ken Russell and stars Who frontman Roger Daltrey.
During her action-packed career, Beryl represented comedians such as Tony Hancock and Frankie Howerd, as well as comedy writers like Eric Sykes, Alan Simpson and Doctor Who Dalek creator Terry Nation.
Beryl managed to work with her family members on some projects, as her daughter Sue produced Coupling and Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat wrote it.
Moffat also co-created and co-wrote Sherlock, which based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s original books.
Beryl formed Hartswood Films in the 1980s, and its British sitcom Men Behaving Badly was first broadcast on ITV in 1992.
It ended up running for six series, alongside a Christmas special and a trilogy of episodes that formed a feature-length “last orders”.
The sitcom won the Comedy Awards’ Best ITV Comedy, and the first ever National Television Award for Situation Comedy.
Beryl was awarded an OBE in 2000 for her services to TV, and in 2016 she was handed a CBE for her work in TV drama.
She also won major awards including the BAFTA Alan Clarke Award for Outstanding Creative Contribution to Television, and the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Royal Television Society Programme Awards in 2012.
Beryl is survived by her daughters Debbie and Sue Vertue, the latter of whom is married to Steven Moffat.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
