Canadian screenwriter and producer, co-created Doctor Who (died 1997)

Sydney Newman

Sydney Cecil Newman was a Canadian television producer and screenwriter who played a pioneering role in British television drama from the late 1950s to the late 1960s. After his return to Canada in 1970, he was appointed acting director of the Broadcast Programs Branch for the Canadian Radio and Television Commission (CRTC) and then head of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). He also occupied senior positions at the Canadian Film Development Corporation and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and acted as an advisor to the Secretary of State.

Born

1917

April 1

Died

Living

Era

1910s

Country

—

About

Sydney, in brief

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Life timeline

Key dates

1917 Born

Also on April 1

What else happened on this day, through history

285 Roman emperor Diocletian names Maximian his co-emperor ("Augustus").
527 Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne.
1081 Alexios I Komnenos overthrows the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros III Botaneiates, and, after his troops spend three days extensively looting Constantinople, is formally crowned on April 4.
1572 In the Eighty Years' War, the Watergeuzen capture Brielle from the Seventeen Provinces, gaining the first foothold on land for what would become the Dutch Republic.

See all of April 1 →

The world in 1917

When Sydney arrived

april 12 World War I: Canadian forces successfully complete the taking of Vimy Ridge from the Germans.
april 16 Russian Revolution: Vladimir Lenin returns to Petrograd, Russia, from exile in Switzerland.
april 2 American entry into World War I: President Wilson asks the U.S. Congress for a declaration of war on Germany.
april 6 World War I: The United States declares war on Germany.

Read the year 1917 →

Same-day contemporaries

Also born on April 1

Anamaria Marinca 1978– Romanian-English actress Asa Butterfield 1997– English actor Beth Tweddle 1985– English gymnast Bijou Phillips 1980– American actress and model David Gower 1957– English cricketer and sportscaster Ferenc Puskás 1927–2006 Hungarian footballer and manager (died 2006) Gil Scott-Heron 1949–2011 American singer-songwriter and author (died 2011) Hazem El Masri 1976– Lebanese-Australian rugby league player and educator James Fisk 1834– American businessman (died 1872)

See everything on April 1 →

Same-year contemporaries

Also born in 1917

Augusto Roa Bastos 1917–2005 Paraguayan journalist, author, and academic (born 1917) Cleveland Amory 1917–1998 American author and activist (born 1917) David Tomlinson 1917–2000 English actor and comedian (born 1917) Dinah Shore 1917–1994 American actress and singer (born 1916) Dizzy Gillespie 1917–1993 American singer-songwriter and trumpet player (born 1917) Domenico Bartolucci 1917–2013 Italian cardinal and composer (died 2013) Donald Davidson 1917–2003 American philosopher and academic (born 1917) El Santo 1917–1984 Mexican professional wrestler (born 1917) Fannie Lou Hamer 1917–1977 American activist and philanthropist (born 1917)

Read about the year 1917 →

Keep going

More to explore

Sydney's birthday April 1 Sydney's zodiac Aries When Sydney arrived 1917