English television director and producer (b. 1927)
Stanley Dorfman
Born
(1927-11-24) 24 November 1927 (age 96)
Johannesburg, South Africa
Nationality
British
Occupation(s)
Television program creator, Television director, Television producer, Music video director
Notable work
Top of the Pops, In Concert (British TV series), In Concert (American TV series), Sinatra in Concert, Disc One of the Led Zeppelin DVD: Royal Albert Hall concert in 1970, The Bobbie Gentry Show, The John Denver Show, Official music video: David Bowie "Heroes", Official music video: Blondie "Heart of Glass", Woodstock '94, Woodstock '99
Stanley Dorfman (born 24 November 1927) is a British music television director, producer, and painter. He is known as the co-creator and original producer and director of the world's longest running music television series, Top of the Pops. His work on the program contributed to the development of music videos.[1]
During his tenure at the BBC, Dorfman created the BBC music television series In Concert, where he served as director and producer. He provided many notable musicians with their debut television opportunities. Dorfman played a pivotal role in advancing the careers of women in television during the late 1960s, including by directing and producing three of the first television series on the BBC that were hosted by female performers. He also produced and directed jazz and big band series for the BBC, and series around John Denver, Mary Travers, and Jack Jones.[2]
Dorfman's also directed and produced television specials such as Frank Sinatra In Concert at the Royal Festival Hall, and the televised performance of Rudolf Nureyev in Giselle, which stands as Nureyev's sole documented performance of the unabridged ballet.[3] Dorfman was the director of televised live music events[4] like the A.R.M.S. benefit concert in London in 1984,[5] the Amnesty International Human Rights Concerts between 1986 and 1998,[6] and the Woodstock '94 and Woodstock '99 music festivals.
Dorfman's work extends to the realm of music videos for artists that include David Bowie, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Ringo Star, Harry Nilsson, Jefferson Starship, and Blondie. He directed Led Zeppelin's Royal Albert Hall concert on film in 1970.[7] Led Zeppelin used this footage to release three official music videos: "How Many More Times", "Dazed and Confused", and "What Is and What Should Never Be."[8]
^Riefe, Jordan (11 February 2016). "Music Video Pioneer Stanley Dorfman Recalls Bowie, Sinatra and Lennon". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2 June 2023. As original director/producer of the U.K.'s seminal pop show Top of the Pops, Stanley Dorfman stood astride the portal through which every mainstream act had to pass in the '60s. David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Sinatra — the list is a pantheon of pop icons. Dorfman cemented his position further when he relocated to Los Angeles in 1974, taking over for Dick Clark's In Concert series, later directing music videos and concert films in the 1990s.
^"The man who put polish into pop". United Kingdom: Evening Standard. 23 June 1973. p. 15. Retrieved 23 June 2023 – via newspapers.com. The producer of the In Concert series (and also of the series devoted to John Denver, Mary Travers, Bobbie Gentry, and Dusty Springfield) is a middle-aged aged South African called Stanley Dorfman. A diffident man by nature (or at least that was the persona he presented to me during our meeting this week), he has, in my opinion, been responsible for most of the best programmes devoted to popular music ever shown on British television.
^"Giselle". NYPL Digital Collections. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
^"Meet the team behind the glitz". Times Colonist. 2 December 1994. p. 49. Retrieved 25 June 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Despite its limitations, Dorfman, a 16-year veteran of the BBC who has directed scores of variety specials, looks upon the Memorial Arena as a giant TV studio. It took no less than eight key TV cameras and two roving cameras to capture the action Dorfman shaped into a one-hour special.
^Radel, CZliff (30 May 1984). "Audience benefits in fundraiser Show". The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. 67. Retrieved 23 June 2023. The concert film was directed by Stanley Dorfman. The granddaddy of rock and roll filmmakers, Dorfman knows his craft and respects his subject. Musicians, not cinematic effects, are the stars of this show.
^"the-paris-concert-for-amnesty-international". Archived from the original on 3 June 2016.
^Power, Martin (2016). "Chapter 21: The Song Remains The Same". No Quarter: The Three Lives of Jimmy Page. London, UK : Overlook Omnibus. p. 316. ISBN 978-1-4683-1214-0.
^"No ordinary rock concert: Watch Led Zeppelin's 1970 Hall debut". www.royalalberthall.com. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
StanleyDorfman (born 24 November 1927) is a British music television director, producer, and painter. He is known as the co-creator and original producer...
Cotton devised the name Top of the Pops. Cotton, Johnnie Stewart and StanleyDorfman devised the rules which governed how the show would operate: the programme...
the years 1969 to 1979. The DVD includes the performance filmed by StanleyDorfman and Peter Whitehead at the Royal Albert Hall on 9 January 1970, and...
music programme Top of the Pops with StanleyDorfman and Bill Cotton. Stewart co-produced Top of the Pops with Dorfman until 1969, when Stewart was replaced...
director and producer StanleyDorfman. With exception to his appearance on an episode of the BBC series In Concert, also directed by Dorfman, the TV special...
Books, saying "He did do the In Concert series on BBC television with StanleyDorfman, which was very popular at the time. His show was very interesting...
produced and directed by StanleyDorfman, who was engaged to be married to Gentry in 1970, and credited Gentry as his co-director. Dorfman told author Tara Murtha...
Denver Show, a weekly music and variety show directed and produced by StanleyDorfman. Denver's live concert special, An Evening with John Denver, won the...
to the recently disbanded band Cream, until director and producer StanleyDorfman was forced to bring the song to a premature end. The Experience bass...
collaborated with StanleyDorfman to direct a stage and television special performance of Giselle, with music composed by Adolphe Adam. Dorfman also took on...
C.D. Taylor 1982 "Be My Lady" Jerry Kramer 1983 "Can't Find Love" StanleyDorfman 1983 "Out of Control" Jerry Kramer 1983 "Winds of Change" Jerry Kramer...
commercial was produced by Vidtronics Company Inc. and directed by StanleyDorfman. Starr returned the favour and did the voiceover for the commercial...
This" "Hanging on the Telephone" David Mallet 1979 "Heart of Glass" StanleyDorfman "Dreaming" David Mallet "The Hardest Part" "Union City Blue" "Shayla"...
Rush (2023), and a documentary short Barbara and Stanley: A Modern Romance featuring StanleyDorfman and Barbara Flood. Fleit co-founded the luxury womenswear...
Concert (BBC TV series), a 1970s music television series produced by StanleyDorfman In Concert, a 1970s radio show on BBC Radio 1 produced by Jeff Griffin...
broadcast on BBC1 from 1968 to 1969 hosted by Lulu and produced by StanleyDorfman. The show's title was changed to Lulu from episode 3, broadcast 11...
throughout the show. The BBC's Johnnie Stewart produced the show, while StanleyDorfman directed. Both men were involved with the regular production of BBC...
scheduled to appear but was ill. The television special was directed by StanleyDorfman and produced by Harold Davison, and the musical direction and conducting...
Vladimiro Ariel Dorfman (born May 6, 1942) is an Argentine-Chilean-American novelist, playwright, essayist, academic, and human rights activist. A citizen...
consecutive musical-variety shows for the BBC, both directed and produced by StanleyDorfman. The first was Once More With Felix. The premiere episode was transmitted...
BBC's In Concert at the time, StanleyDorfman, to film Led Zeppelin Live At The Royal Albert Hall, during which Dorfman and the two cameramen he hired...
for the Dusty Springfield shows which were produced and directed by StanleyDorfman and recorded by the BBC, for television. It featured Johnny Pearson...