Cecil Graves
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4 March 1892
Captain Sir Cecil Graves | |
|---|---|
| 3rd Director-General of the BBC | |
| In office 26 January 1942 – 6 September 1943 | |
| Preceded by | Frederick Ogilvie |
| Succeeded by | Robert Foot |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Cecil George Graves 4 March 1892 |
| Died | 12 January 1957 (aged 64) |
| Spouse |
Irene Helen Bagnell (m. 1921) |
| Children | 2 |
Captain Sir Cecil George Graves KCMG MC (4 March 1892 – 12 January 1957) was joint Director-General of the BBC with Robert Foot from 26 January 1942 to 6 September 1943.
The son of Charles L. Graves and the eldest sister of Viscount Grey of Fallodon, Alice Grey,[1] Graves was educated at Gresham's School, Holt,[2] (like his predecessor Reith) and then at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.[1]
Career
Graves was a scout commissioned into the Royal Scots from Sandhurst in 1911. He served with the British Expeditionary Force in France, from August 1914, and was one of the first to be taken as a prisoner of war, on 26 August 1914, spending the rest of the Great War in a German prison camp. After the war, he served at the War Office in the Intelligence Branch of the Imperial General Staff from 1919 to 1925, when he left the British Army.[1]
He joined the BBC as an administrator in 1926, was Assistant Director of Programmes from 1929 to 1932, then Empire Service Director, 1932–1935, Controller of Programmes, 1935–1938, Deputy Director-General, 1938–1942, and in 1942 succeeded Frederick Ogilvie (jointly with Robert Foot) as Director-General.[1] Graves retired from the corporation in September 1943 due to ill health, leaving Foot to be sole Director-General.[3] Graves was also a member of the Arts Council of Great Britain and the Broadcasting Council of Scotland (now known as Audience Council Scotland).[4]