Allan McKeown

Allan McKeown was born in London. He left school at sixteen to learn hairdressing at Vidal Sassoon, which was on Bond Street during the swingin' sixties. McKeown learned the trade well, opened up his own salon in 1966, and he became a well-known figure on the London scene. As a hairdresser, McKeown styled icons like The Beatles and Elizabeth Taylor, and also worked on the films "If ." (1968), starring Malcolm McDowell, "Villain" (1971), with Richard Burton, and "Get Carter" (1971) with Michael Caine. Eventually McKeown became a producer in the late sixties when he joined James Garrett and Partners, at the time the biggest television production company in the United Kingdom. McKeown then moved from Garrett and Partners to forming his own company, Witzend. The Witzend company produced the movie "Porridge" (1979), and the concert special "To Russia With Elton" (1979). McKeown would also go on to produce the acclaimed British series "Lovejoy" (BBC One 1986-1994). But McKeown's most successful partnership was with actress / singer / comedienne Tracey Ullman. They married in 1983 and had two children, Johnny and Mabel. Ullman first became known doing sketch comedy in Britain, and had some hits as a singer (most memorably a note for note cover of Kirsty MacColl's "They Don't Know" in late 1983) before making a splash in the States with "The Tracey Ullman Show" (Fox 1987-1990) on the newly formed Fox network. "The Tracey Ullman Show" was also the vehicle where "The Simpsons" (Fox 1989-) made their debut, and it would soon branch off into its own wildly successful series. Ullman moved on to HBO with "Tracey Takes On" (HBO 1996-99), which won eight Emmys, including a 1997 win for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Show. McKeown produced "Takes On," as well as the Indian sketch comedy series "Mumbai Calling" (2007-09) and "Tracey Ullman's State of the Union" (Showtime 2008-2010). McKeown's career as a stage producer also remained strong with "Jerry Springer: The Opera" (2003), which was a big hit and won an Olivier Award for Best Musical in 2004. He also produced "Lennon" (2005), a musical based on the life of the legendary Beatles icon that played Broadway. McKeown died on December 24, 2013 after a long battle with prostate cancer. He was sixty-seven.