Julia Smith (producer)

Julia Cuthbert Smith was born on 26 May 1927 in Maida Vale, west London, to Edward Cuthbert Smith and his wife, Elfriede Frances Gritton Menges. The family's residence was in Bedford Park, a planned development in Chiswick. Smith's father was a vocalist, and became the senior professor of singing at the Royal College of Music. Other maternal family members have also had careers in the arts: Herbert Menges, her uncle, was a conductor and director of music at The Old Vic; Isolde Menges, her aunt, was a violinist, and Royal College of Music professor; and Chris Menges, her cousin, became an Oscar-winning cinematographer. During the Second World War, Smith was evacuated to Wiltshire. She subsequently attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. == Career ==

Because Smith felt her face was too solemn to win many leading parts, she went into stage management, firstly at the Regent Theatre in Hayes, Middlesex, before working in repertory companies. Smith's work for the Royal Shakespeare Company in the 1950s would lead to her first contact with the BBC, with her being asked to transfer a theatrical production to television. Following a period working in the small screen, Smith returned to Stratford-upon-Avon, where the RSC was based. In 1967, she directed an adaptation of The Railway Children with Jenny Agutter that was successful enough for it to lead to the fondly remembered 1970 film in which Agutter reprised her role of Roberta. While working on Z Cars, Smith had met Tony Holland, who was a script editor for the show. The two of them became an established producer/script-editor team, and went on to work for the BBC's long-running hospital drama Angels from 1979 to 1983. This was followed by The District Nurse, a series set in the coalfields of south Wales. Eldorado Following the success of EastEnders, Smith and Holland collaborated again on the ill-fated BBC soap opera Eldorado. Holland created the series, based on an original idea by Verity Lambert, and Smith was producer. Eldorado was produced by Lambert through her own company, Cinema Verity Productions. The BBC had hoped that, after EastEnders, Smith and Holland could make drama gold again; however, the series was cancelled by the new controller of BBC1, Alan Yentob. Smith was blamed for the programme's shortcomings and fired, which left her bitter towards the BBC, who she believed had not given Eldorado a chance to establish itself. Corinne Hollingworth took over as series producer after Smith left the show, but the series was ended after only a year. Following the demise of Eldorado, Smith effectively retired from television work, but remained active on the lecture circuit, giving talks on TV drama production. == Personal life and death ==

On 2 April 1962, Smith married David Maxwell Geary, a radio announcer. However, the couple divorced in 1966. Smith died of cancer at the Royal Marsden Hospital in Chelsea, London, on 19 June 1997, aged 70. Several stalwart cast members of EastEnders, including Wendy Richard, attended her funeral. Smith was cremated at Mortlake Crematorium on 30 June. ==References==