Lord Grade has revealed to the JC that he has been begun wearing a Magen David necklace.
The decision was prompted by what he calls the “problems in the Middle East”.
He said: “I’m not bling, but two years ago, I said to my wife, if you’re looking to buy me a present, I think it’s time I wore a Star of David, which I do now.”
He pulls the chain from beneath his shirt, revealing a smart, medium-sized silver pendant.
“If I’m in a strange environment, my first thought is, should I cover it up? And I do cover it up,” he says.
“I don’t want to be provocative – I know what I believe, I know who I am, people know I don’t hide my faith or my Judaism in any way, shape, or form.
“But the fact that I have to even ask myself that question of showing it, thinking whether I’d better put it round the back [of my neck] – what does that say? That unnerves me a lot.”
Lord Grade and his wife Francesca attends the National Theatre: Fast Forward reception at the Former Saatchi Gallery Building on February 24, 2005 in London. (Getty Images)Getty Images
Grade was barmitzvahed at New West End Synagogue in Bayswater. Today he attends St John’s Wood Liberal Synagogue, which he says he “absolutely loves”.
His father, Leslie Grade, was a talent agent, and his uncles were the impressarios Lew Grade and Bernard Delfont.
Grade joined the family business as a young man, booking stars including Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and the Supremes and Judy Garland to appear at the renowned London nightclub the Talk of the Town.
Judy Garland (1922-1969) performs live on stage at The Talk of the Town nightclub on Charing Cross Road in London on December 31, 1968. (Getty Images)Getty Images
It was a “people’s nightclub,” he says as he remembers legendary Jewish-American entertainer Sophie Tucker tread the boards.
He recalls Garland’s final professional engagement at the club shortly before her death. She would dress at the Ritz, and arrive by car and cross Leicester Square before entering through the stage door as the orchestra played her overture.
“This little wizened old lady came in the door, and when she hit the spotlight, there was a Hollywood star. She was gobsmacking, and the public adored her.”
Theatrical agent Michael Grade with his wife Penelope (née Levinson) on their wedding day, St John's Road Synagogue, London, March 19 1967. (Getty Images)Getty Images
However, Garland kept performing later and later, costing the club a fortune in overtime.
Tasked with going backstage to trying to persuade Garland to finish on time, he found her after “holding court with a glass of wine and a cigarette”.
Telling that her fans had travelled hundreds of miles to see her, he explained they were unable to go home after the trains stopped at half past midnight.
Garland looked at him.
“Young man,” she said, “nobody pays to see Judy Garland go on time. All I have left to sell is drama.”
British theatrical talent agent Leslie Grade (1916 - 1979) with his son, English television executive and businessman Michael Grade, UK, October 27, 1969. (Getty Images)Getty Images
He also recalls a pivotal encounter with Elvis Presley after he had helped Tom Jones to appear in Las Vegas. Grade was in the Welsh singer’s dressing room when there was a knock at the door. Elvis and Priscilla Presley were standing outside, saying they were looking forward to seeing Jones perform that night. The hotel’s booker Bill Miller nudged Grade and said: “I’ll get Elvis now.”
Lord Grade leaving his home in November 2006 after confirming he would be leaving position as executive chair of ITV (Getty Images)Getty Images
Miller believed that once Presley had seen Jones, he would realise he had to play a Las Vegas residency himself. Sure enough, Presley was booked at the newly opened Hilton, and Grade attended the opening, with Ike and Tina Turner as the warm-up act.
Elvis was “sensational”, Grade remembers. “You couldn’t believe it.”
Now, Grade sits as a Conservative Member of the House of Lords, and concerns himself with business ventures in “property, tech and mining,” as well as three children and five grandchildren, but he misses the world of show business.
Lord Michael Grade and members of the House of Lords await the start of the State Opening of Parliament on November 7, 2023 in London, England. (Getty Images)Getty Images
“I love the talent, I understand the talent, I have great sympathy for the talent. That was the gift from the family.”
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