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Cedric Messina (14 December 1920 [1] in Port Elizabeth, South Africa — 30 April 1993 in London) [2] was a South-African born British television producer and director who worked for the BBC and is best remembered for his involvement in television productions of classic drama.
May 17, 1993 · Cedric Messina, a television producer whose work included plays by Shakespeare, died on April 30 in London, the British press reported last week. He was 72. The cause of death was not given....
Cedric Eugene Messina, television producer: born Port Elizabeth, South Africa 1920; married (one daughter); died London 30 April 1993.
The BBC Television Shakespeare is a series of British television adaptations of the plays of William Shakespeare, created by Cedric Messina and broadcast by BBC Television. Transmitted in the UK from 3 December 1978 to 27 April 1985, the series spanned seven seasons and thirty-seven episodes.
Cedric Messina worked at the South African Broadcasting Corporation both before and after the Second World War, initially as a radio announcer and later as a drama producer. After a temporary assignment to the BBC, he joined the Corporation permanently in the late 1950s.
The scale of Messina's proposal, far greater than that of previous multi-part Shakespeare series such as An Age of Kings (BBC, 1960) and Spread of the Eagle (BBC, 1963), required an American partner in order to guarantee access to the US market, deemed essential for the series to recoup its costs.
On 3 December 1978 the BBC began its ambitious plan to broadcast a television version of each of Shakespeare's 37 plays, starting with Romeo and Juliet. The project was devised by Cedric...
