Norman Richard Collins was a British writer, and later a radio and television executive, who became one of the major figures behind the establishment of the Independent Television network in the UK.
10 Facts About Norman Collins
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Norman Collins had a French-Huguenot background on his father's side and Welsh farming stock on his mother's.
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Norman Collins was educated at a school founded by William Ellis at Gospel Oak, Hampstead.
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Norman Collins left the British education system aged eighteen, and began his career as an editorial assistant at the Oxford University Press in London.
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Norman Collins left this job in 1930 after a dispute over his low salary.
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Norman Collins went on to work under Robert Lynd as a literary editor on the London News Chronicle newspaper and had a spell as literary editor of the Daily News.
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The second famous programme Norman Collins initiated was the notably long-lived Woman's Hour, first broadcast in 1946 and still running every weekday on BBC Radio 4.
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Lew Grade 8.
Norman Collins left the BBC with a strong desire to see the establishment of a televisual competitor to the corporation, which since the 1920s had held a complete monopoly on broadcasting in the UK, both radio and television.
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Norman Collins took on the role of Deputy Chairman of ATV, but was effectively sidelined by the force of personality of the company's other senior directors, Prince Littler and Lew Grade.
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In 1931 Norman Collins married actress Sarah Helen, daughter of Arthur Francis Martin; they had two daughters and one son.