Sir Cameron Mackintosh's Biography

Who is Sir Cameron Mackintosh?

In December 2007, Sir Cameron Mackintosh was named the most influential person in British theatre by The Stage.

Mackintosh took the top spot from his fellow judge on I'll Do Anything, Lord Lloyd-Webber.

Sir Cameron Mackintosh owns the rights to Oliver and the BBC show I'll Do Anything was designed to find an Oliver and a Nancy for the musical production.

Cameron Mackintosh, whose mother is Maltese, began his theatre career as a stage-hand at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

His first production, Anything Goes, closed after a fortnight.

However, it was not long before the hit musicals started to roll in.

Significant amongst those successes were collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, for example, Cats, which became the longest-running musical in the West End or on Broadway, and The Phantom of the Opera.

Cats' record was overtaken by another Cameron Mackintosh production, Les Misérables, which opened in 1985 and was still going strong at the time of I'll Do Anything's transmission on BBC1 in the Spring of 2008.

By 2016, Les Miserables was estimated to have taken $5.5 billion in the worldwide box offices.

As well as his work as a producer, Sir Cameron Mackintosh also owns theatres in London's West End, including the Queen's, Gielgud, Prince of Wales, Novello, Prince Edward, Noël Coward and the Wyndham's.

In 1996, Cameron Mackintosh was knighted for services to the British Theatre.

One of Cameron Mackintosh's brothers is the chef Nicky Mackintosh.

In an article about him and his brother, Cameron Mackintosh told The Guardian about his early days:

"I lived in Mayfair's Shepherd Market when I was 19. There was a butcher's, a fishmonger's and a greengrocer. I learnt all about off-cuts and managed to survive on £1.50 a week."

In 2001, Sir Cameron Mackintosh criticised London's infrastructure:

"No other country in the world does everything in its power to stop the public from visiting its centre."

He was the co-creator and producer of the stage revival of Mary Poppins.

Cameron Mackintosh's garden was featured on episode 16 of the 2016 series of the BBC's Gardener's World.

The Sunday Times Rich List in 2016 estimated Sir Cameron Mackintosh's net wealth to be £1.15 billion, making him the 95th richest entry in the UK list.

In September 2017, he appeared on The One Show, talking about his 50 years in the theatre.