Charles Vere Wintour was a British newspaper editor, the father of Vogue magazine editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour, and of the diplomatic editor of The Guardian newspaper, Patrick Wintour.
17 Facts About Charles Wintour
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Charles Wintour was born in Pamphill Manor, near Wimborne, Dorset, the son of Alice Jane Blanche Foster and Major-General Fitzgerald Charles Wintour.
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Charles Wintour wrote articles for the Radio Times while he was at Oundle School, and won a prize awarded by the Daily Mail.
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Charles Wintour then went up to university where he studied at Peterhouse, Cambridge, reading English and history and briefly editing the Granta magazine with Eric Hobsbawm.
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In 1946, Charles Wintour became a leader writer for the London Evening Standard.
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Charles Wintour was promoted to political editor, then moved to the Sunday Express as assistant editor.
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Charles Wintour returned to the Standard as deputy editor, during which period he convinced Lord Beaverbrook to launch the Evening Standard Awards for theatre in 1955.
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Charles Wintour became managing editor of the Daily Express in 1958, then in 1959 moved back to the Standard as editor.
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Charles Wintour remained editor until 1976, when he became managing director of the Daily Express, supervising its transition from broadsheet to tabloid.
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Charles Wintour took part in the negotiations to merge the London Evening Standard with the Evening News, championing the case for keeping the staff and approach of the Standard.
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In 1979, Charles Wintour joined the Press Council, serving for two years.
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In 1981, Charles Wintour launched the Sunday Express Magazine with new wife Audrey Slaughter, and in 1984 they launched Working Woman magazine.
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In 1985, Charles Wintour became editor of the Press Gazette, and he advised on the launch of Today, The Independent and the new Daily News, in addition to the breakfast television show TV-am.
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Charles Wintour wrote two key books drawn from experience: Pressures on the Press in 1972, a candid account of decision-making during every hour of the newspaper day; and The Rise and Fall of Fleet Street in 1989, a shrewd analysis of Fleet Street as a publishing centre through those who were responsible for its historic rise and the more recent responses to new technology.
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Charles Wintour retired in 1989 and spent his later years supporting the Liberal Democrats and chairing the regional National Art Collections Fund.
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In 1940 Charles Wintour married Eleanor "Nonie" Trego Baker; the couple later divorced in 1979.
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Charles Wintour had five children, of whom two, Anna and Patrick, later became prominent journalists.