Harry Elton was a Canadian broadcaster, primarily known as the television producer who championed the development of the British television programme Coronation Street in 1960, currently the world's longest-running television soap opera in production.
14 Facts About Harry Elton
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Henry John Harry Elton was born in Toronto, Ontario in 1930.
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When his father died in 1935, Harry Elton's mother moved the family to Detroit, Michigan in the United States.
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Harry Elton attended Wayne State University, and in 1951 he travelled to London where he studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art for one year.
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The fledgling ITV television franchises in the United Kingdom recruited a number of Canadians in the late 1950s, and Harry Elton was hired as a drama producer for Granada in Manchester in 1957.
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At Granada, Harry Elton produced series such as Shadow Squad, Biggles, The Verdict Is Yours and In Court Today.
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Harry Elton pointed outdoors through the window of his office and asked Warren to write about "a street out there", giving Warren 24 hours to generate an idea that would "take Britain by storm".
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Harry Elton finally persuaded sceptical network managers to proceed with the blue-collar drama, and they grudgingly gave the go-ahead for 13 episodes.
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When BBC Four aired a movie in 2010 dramatizing the creation of the show, The Road to Coronation Street, the role of Harry Elton was played by Christian McKay.
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Harry Elton soon found employment in television as a story editor at CBC Television, later becoming a news anchor for the nightly newscasts on CJOH-TV in Ottawa.
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In 1972, Harry Elton returned to the CBC as a host for CBC Radio, notably hosting Cross Country Checkup.
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Harry Elton managed the CBC television station in Calgary from 1976 to 1979, and then he returned to radio and Ottawa to host CBO Morning on CBO-FM.
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From 1984 until his retirement in 1989, Harry Elton hosted the Mostly Music classical music program on CBC Stereo.
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In retirement, Harry Elton became fascinated with China and its people, and he taught English to college students in China from 1994 to 1996.