Michael Balcon
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Sir Michael Balcon (19 May 1896–17 October 1977) was a British film producer, known for his work with the Ealing Studios.
Born in Birmingham, Balcon was educated at George Dixon School, then began his career in filmmaking during the 1920s, producing his first film, Woman to Woman (starring Clive Brook) in 1923, and began working at Ealing in the early 1940s. Among his films for the studio is 1950's Dance Hall with Petula Clark and Diana Dors; and The Blue Lamp, whose lead character, George Dixon, took his name from Balcon's school, and later resurfaced in the long-running television drama Dixon of Dock Green.
He worked with Alfred Hitchcock, Basil Dearden, Michael Relph, and many other British greats of the film world. He was made a Knight of the British Empire in 1948. The last film on which he worked as executive producer was Tom Jones (1963).
His daughter Jill Balcon became an actress, his son-in-law Cecil Day-Lewis was an Irish-born Poet Laureate, and his grandson is the successful Oscar-winning actor Daniel Day-Lewis. Balcon was Jewish.[1]
