After a brief illness, writer, broadcaster, and humorist Victor Lewis-Smith, 65, died. “A unique and irreplaceable talent,” his PR agency Borkowski said, he died Saturday in Bruges, Belgium.
Career highlights
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Before studying music at York University, Essex-born Lewis-Smith worked at BBC Radio Medway. In the mid-1980s, he became a staff producer for BBC Radio 4’s Midweek and Start the Week, where he brought his anarchic comedy to the long-running show Loose Ends.
He was top television reviewer for the London Evening Standard for 15 years and a Daily Mirror columnist for 10 years. Associated Rediffusion Productions created Channel 4 shows like TV Offal and Keith Meets… with stand-up Keith Allen.
He wrote the Funny Old World column for Private Eye magazine for almost 30 years, including unusual and amusing reader submissions.
Hoax phone calls
Lewis-Smith impersonated celebrities and prominent personalities to make fake phone calls. He targeted Harrods, the TV show Jim’ll Fix It, hosted by paedophile Jimmy Savile, and Princess Diana, whom he posed as astrophysicist Stephen Hawking to talk about Prince Charles and the Clinton family. After 20 years in a safe, the whole call was published in 2015.
Tributes
Fans and colleagues of Lewis-Smith praised his wit, ingenuity, and boldness on social media. Monty Don of BBC Gardener’s World termed him “biting, very rude and above all, very funny”. “Britain’s rudest, funniest & most dangerous writer,” remarked Piers Morgan, who ran the Mirror while Lewis-Smith published a column. Sarfraz Manzoor called his Evening Standard TV reviews “comedic masterpieces”.
Virginia and Lucia Lewis-Smith survive. Sky Arts will air Hitler’s Jazz Band on December 14 at 21:00.
FAQs: The Ultimate guide to your questions
Q: Victor Lewis-Smith died when and where?
A: He died Saturday, December 12, 2022, in Bruges, Belgium.
Q: His specialty?
A: His TV criticism, satire, hoax phone calls, and comedic sketch shows were famous.
Q: Who employed him?
A: BBC Radio 4, London Evening Standard, Daily Mirror, Channel 4, and Private Eye magazine employed him.
Q: He hoaxed whom?
A: He deceived Harrods, Jimmy Savile, Princess Diana, and others.
Q: Who survived?
A: His wife Virginia and daughter Lucia survive him.
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