Book Description
Brian Tesler's father David came to Britain at the age of 15
in the middle of the First World War, not speaking a word of English. It
was a long journey for David from the little village of Baremel' in the
Ukraine to the tranquil West London suburb in which he died in 1972. He
accomplished it with style, ending up a proud Englishman, a successful man
of business, the founder of a synagogue, the Worshipful Master of a Masonic
Lodge - and the father and inspiration of a major figure of British
Television, whose professional career encompassed TV's entire post-war
evolution from a single-channel BBC to today's explosion of satellite and
cable channels.
This memoir reflects Brian Tesler's career throughout, but is not a record
of it. Before I Forget is a very personal account of Tesler's family, of
the East End's vibrant Jewish community in the early decades of the last
century, and of the life of a youngster in London in peacetime and in war,
immersed in the radio, theatre, movies and music hall of the 1930s and
1940s that led him to his career.
About the Author
Brian Tesler was born in London in 1929. He was educated at
Chiswick County School for Boys and Exeter College, Oxford. His television
career began in 1952 as a producer, first for the BBC and then for
Associated Television. He was the first recipient of BAFTA's Light
Entertainment Production Award, in 1957, when the Academy was still a
Guild.
Tesler was appointed Director of Programmes at ABC Television in 1965 and
went on to become a founder-director of both Thames Television and Channel
Four. At London Weekend Television, which he joined in 1974, he was
appointed successively Deputy Chief Executive, Managing Director and
Chairman and Managing Director. He retired in 1994.
Outside television, he sat on the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Committee for
Inner London for six years, and was its Chairman for the last three. He was
a Lay Interviewer for Judicial Appointments, and remains an Independent
Assessor for the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
He lives in Chiswick, West London, with his wife Audrey.