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In 1954 Ron Green was working at Cossor Electronics testing television sets. In the next test bay was Len Shorey. They spotted a recruiting ad for the BBC, keen to replace staff lost to the nascent ITV, and applied for jobs in technical operations, reasoning that making television sounded a lot more interesting than making televisions. Successful, in the spring of 1955 they walked through the doors of Lime Grove for the fi rst time. Ron took to camera work like a duck to water. By the mid-sixties he was the natural choice to take over Crew Seven from the retiring Mike 'Paddington’ Bond, and for the next 25 years Ron Green and Crew Seven were virtually synonymous with television excellence.
These were the heydays of television and Ron’s brilliant camerawork graced shows such as Top of the Pops, Vince Hill, Rolf Harris, Shirley Bassey, Lena Zavaroni, Grace Kennedy – classic examples of the Stewart Morris/Ron Green genre. Other credits include The Two Ronnies, Ever Decreasing Circles, Blackadder, Paul Daniel’s Magic Show, Opportunity Knocks and, despite his fame as a light entertainment cameraman, Z Cars, Softly Softly, King Lear and, for the arts, Mass For Man, The Beggars Opera and Cosi fan Tutti – these just scratch the surface.
In 1989 he crowned his BBC career with a Bafta for The Ginger Tree, the BBC’s first venture into high definition. It was executed in his inimitable way and he adapted seamlessly to a ‘film’ style of single camera production.
Ron’s secret was that he loved camerawork for its own sake and with his almost magical skills he could infuse style into any production. A Playschool, a Late Show or a Blue Peter received the same care and attention as a Jonathan Miller opera. The demand for his services lasted well beyond his official retirement from the BBC in 1990. He continued into his seventies as a freelancer until his worsening back problems forced a halt.
He is fondly remembered by all, for he had a knack, not just of technical brilliance, but of getting on with people. He even had a fan club in LWT and Granada who used to tune in to ‘Ron Green’ productions. These shows were a watchword for 'How it should be Done’. With his prematurely greying hair, (he was fondly dubbed ‘the Silver Haired Smoothy’ when still in his twenties) he seemed to be unchanging. It gave him an air of indestructibility that makes it all the harder to realise that he has gone. Ron’s last few working years were marred by the loss of his eldest son Richard in 1999 and wife Betty, in 2001. He is survived by his younger son, David.
It is a measure of the regard in which Ron was held that the funeral address was given by James Moir, former head of tv light entertainment. A collection in aid of the RNIB raised over £900. Peter Fox
(From Ariel)
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