Loyd Grossman | |
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Born | Loyd Daniel Gilman Grossman 16 September 1950 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
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Spouse | Deborah Puttnam (m. 1985;div. 2004) |
Children | 2 |
Loyd Daniel Gilman Grossman CBE (born 16 September 1950) is an American-British author, broadcaster, musician, businessman and cultural campaigner who has mainly worked in the United Kingdom. He is well known for presenting the BBC programme MasterChef from 1990 to 2000 and for being the co-presenter, with David Frost, of the BBC and ITV panel show Through the Keyhole from 1987 until 2003, visiting homes of many UK and US celebrities.
Grossman was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on 16 September 1950 and raised in Marblehead, Massachusetts, the son of David K. Grossman, a Jewish antique dealer and Helen Katherine (née Gilman). [1] Many members of his father's family were art and antiques dealers in and around Boston. His cousin was Ram Dass, the spiritual teacher and author. His initial education was at the General John Glover School in Marblehead, [2] and then at Marblehead High School. [1] He graduated from Boston University with a BA degree in history before travelling to the United Kingdom in 1975 to study at the London School of Economics, where he received a master's degree in economic history. He later returned to university at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he studied history of art, and received his MPhil and PhD degrees. [1]
Grossman became involved with journalism as an undergraduate in Boston writing for a number of ‘underground’ and music publications including Boston After Dark, Fusion, Vibrations, the New York Review of Rock and Rolling Stone . After graduation from the LSE he joined the staff of Harpers & Queen as design editor and subsequently went to work for The Sunday Times as contributing editor. He has written for many British newspapers and is a regular contributor to Country Life . While at Harpers & Queen he was also the magazine's restaurant critic, a pursuit which he continued for thirteen years also writing about restaurants for GQ and The Sunday Times.
Grossman's television career began in 1983 as one of the regular faces on TV-am presenting among other things a short segment, Through the Keyhole, which he devised along with Kevin Sim and David Frost. Through the Keyhole transferred to primetime on ITV in 1987 and Grossman continued on the show until 2003. He presented Masterchef from 1990 to 2000 and Junior Masterchef as well as a great number of other programmes including Loyd on Location, The History of British Sculpture, [3] and Behind the Headlines. He also presented the BBC Radio 3 series Composers at Home.
Grossman has a continuing career as a guitarist initially with punk band Jet Bronx And The Forbidden, who reached number 47 in the UK singles chart in December 1977 with "Ain't Doin' Nothing". He returned to playing music in 2008 at the Vienna Rebellion Punk Festival. He subsequently formed a new band, The New Forbidden, with Valentine Guinness. The New Forbidden have appeared at Glastonbury eight times. Grossman also appears as a guest artist with Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull when they play their annual concerts in aid of English cathedrals.
In 1995, Grossman introduced his own brand of cooking sauces, which a 2003 survey found to be the most successful UK celebrity brand. [4] The sauces are produced by arrangement with Premier Foods. [5]
In 2000, he was asked to head a project to improve the quality of food served in British NHS hospitals. Although some newspapers reported that the project had a £40 million budget, Grossman pointed out in a Nursing Times interview that almost all of that money was earmarked for the ward housekeeping programme. He was disappointed that there seemed to be little real money or political will to change hospital catering.
Grossman's lifelong interest in history, the arts and heritage has involved him in a number of organisations. He is a former commissioner of the Museums and Galleries Commission, a former commissioner of English Heritage (where he was chairman of the Museums Advisory Committee and the Blue Plaques Panel), and of the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England. He was a founding member of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, past chairman of the National Museums Liverpool, deputy chairman of Liverpool European Capital of Culture, chairman of Culture Northwest and of the Public Monuments and Sculpture Association. He founded the 24 Hour Museum (now Culture24).
He was chairman of the University for the Creative Arts from 2008 to 2012 and a member of the Court of Governors of the LSE from 1996 to 2009 and is now an emeritus governor. He was deputy chair of the Royal Drawing School, a member of the Council of the British School at Rome, a member of the board of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions and a governor of the Building Crafts College. Grossman was chairman of the Churches Conservation Trust from 2007 to 2016 and in 2009 became chairman of the Heritage Alliance – the UK organisation that represents more than 100 leading non-governmental organisations across the heritage sector. In 2015, he was elected for an unprecedented third term as chairman. In 2016, he was appointed chairman of The Royal Parks. [6]
Grossman is chairman of The Royal Parks, having been reappointed for a four-year term in July 2020, to run from 5 July 2020 to 4 July 2024. [7] He is also chairman of Gresham College, a governor of the British Institute at Florence, a governor of the Compton Verney House Trust and a trustee of the Warburg Charitable Trust. He is president of the Arts Society (formerly NADFAS) and patron of the Association for Heritage Interpretation.
Grossman is Master of the Worshipful Company of Carpenters, an Honorary Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers and Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Arts Scholars. He is a fellow of a number of learned societies: The Society of Antiquaries, The Royal Historical Society, The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and The Royal Society of Medicine.
Grossman was married to Deborah Puttnam, the daughter of the film producer David Puttnam, from 1985 to 2004 and they have two daughters. Grossman is a keen scuba diver and a lifelong fan of the Boston Red Sox.
His Mid-Atlantic accent reflects his Boston origins and has frequently been the subject of parody including in adverts for his own sauces. [8]
Grossman was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2003 Birthday Honours for services to patient care and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2015 Birthday Honours for services to heritage. [1] [9] [10]
He has honorary doctorates from the University of Chester, the University of Lincoln and the University of Essex in recognition of his work for heritage and tourism.
Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester is a member of the British royal family. He is the second son of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, the youngest of the nine grandchildren of George V, nephew of Edward VIII and George VI, and first cousin of Elizabeth II. He is 31st in the line of succession to the British throne, and the highest person on the list who is not a descendant of George VI. At the time of his birth, he was 5th in line to the throne.
Marblehead is a coastal New England town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, along the North Shore. Its population was 20,441 at the 2020 census. The town lies on a small peninsula that extends into the northern part of Massachusetts Bay. Attached to the town is a near island, known as Marblehead Neck, connected to the mainland by a narrow isthmus. Marblehead Harbor, protected by shallow shoals and rocks from the open sea, lies between the mainland and the Neck. Beside the Marblehead town center, two other villages lie within the town: the Old Town, which was the original town center, and Clifton, which lies along the border with the neighboring town of Swampscott.
David Clive Wilson, Baron Wilson of Tillyorn, is a retired British administrator, diplomat and Sinologist. He was the penultimate Commander-in-Chief and 27th Governor of Hong Kong. He served as Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the British Monarch's representative to the Assembly, in 2010 and 2011. He is also one of the two living former governors of Hong Kong with Chris Patten. He retired from the House of Lords on 12 February 2021 after sitting as a crossbencher for over 28 years.
The Chelsea Physic Garden was established as the Apothecaries' Garden in London, England, in 1673 by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries to grow plants to be used as medicines. This four acre physic garden, the term here referring to the science of healing, is among the oldest botanical gardens in Britain, after the University of Oxford Botanic Garden. Its rock garden is the oldest in Europe devoted to alpine plants and Mediterranean plants. The garden has high brick walls which trap heat, giving it a warm micro-climate, and it claims the largest fruiting olive tree in Britain and the world's northernmost grapefruit growing outdoors. Jealously guarded during the tenure of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries, the garden became a registered charity in 1983 and was opened to the general public for the first time.
Through the Keyhole is a British comedy panel game show created by the TV producer Kevin Sim and originally presented by Sir David Frost in the studio and Loyd Grossman on location. The location presenter goes around celebrities' houses and a panel of other celebrities in the studio try to guess who the famous homeowner is.
David Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam, CBE, HonFRSA, HonFRPS, MRIA is a British-Irish film producer, educator, environmentalist and former member of the House of Lords. His productions include Chariots of Fire, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, The Mission, The Killing Fields, Local Hero, Midnight Express and Memphis Belle. In 1982, he received the BAFTA for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema, and in 2006 he was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
Nathaniel Charles Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild,, was a British peer, investment banker and member of the Rothschild banking family. Rothschild held important roles in business and British public life, and was active in charitable and philanthropic areas.
Sir Paul Rupert Judge was an English business and political figure. He served as Chairman of the Royal Society of Arts, President of the Chartered Management Institute, and Deputy Chairman of the American Management Association. He also served as the Director General of the Conservative Party and a Ministerial Advisor to the Cabinet Office. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge.
Sir Neil CossonsFMA is a British historian and museum administrator.
Sir John Richard Walter Reginald Carew Pole, 13th Baronet, OBE, DL is the present holder of the Pole baronetcy, granted to his ancestor by King Charles I in 1628. He lives at Antony House in Cornwall. He succeeded his father, Sir John Gawen Carew Pole, 12th Baronet, in 1993.
Sir Rowland John Rathbone Whitehead, 5th Baronet was a British baronet and merchant banker. In later life, he was heavily engaged with many charities.
Simon John Thurley, is an English academic and architectural historian. He served as Chief Executive of English Heritage from April 2002 to May 2015. In April 2021, he became Chair of the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Sir Kenneth Aphunezi Olisa is a British businessman and philanthropist. He is the first mixed heritage Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London. He founded and led the AIM-listed technology merchant bank Interregnum and now leads Restoration Partners. Ken Olisa is Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists and has served and serves on several boards of philanthropic, educational and regulator organisations. Sir Kenneth with his wife endowed the Olisa Library at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.
Sir David Hugh Wootton is an English lawyer and politician. He was the 684th Lord Mayor of London, from 2011 to 2012, and is was Alderman of the Ward of Langbourn until 2nd November 2024, when he retired from the Court of Aldermen. .
Bernard Francisco Ribeiro, Baron Ribeiro, is a British surgeon who served as President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England from 2005 to 2008. He was created a life peer in 2010 and sat in the House of Lords on the Conservative benches until his retirement in 2023.
Francis Anthony Armstrong Carnwath CBE was a British banker and chairman of many arts and heritage organisations.
Philip Edwin Bujak is a British educationalist and author. As CEO of Montessori St Nicholas Charity he was responsible for the founding of the Montessori Schools Association, the Montessori Evaluation and Accreditation Board, and was the leading voice in the drive for the creation of state funded Montessori schools.
Donald Alexander Lamont is a retired British diplomat who was Governor of the Falkland Islands and Commissioner for South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands from 1999 to 2002.
Robin Lee Wilson was a British civil engineer. He served as chairman of the Travers Morgan Consulting Group and EC Harris and also as president of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1991–92. He was master of the Worshipful Company of Paviors in 2003 when the livery company updated its ordinances for the first time since 1479. Wilson also chaired the Construction Industry Council and the heritage trust which manages the Coultershaw Wharf and Beam Pump.
The Raid on Charlottetown of 17–18 November 1775, early in the American Revolutionary War, involved two American privateers of the Marblehead Regiment attacking and pillaging Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, then known as St. John's Island. The raid motivated Nova Scotia Governor Francis Legge to declare martial law. Despite the raid's success, George Washington immediately freed senior colonial officials the privateers had brought back as prisoners to Cambridge, Massachusetts.