Charles Wintour

Charles Vere Wintour (18 May 1917 – 4 November 1999) was a British newspaper editor. He was the father of Anna Wintour, the Vogue magazine editor-in-chief, and Patrick Wintour, the diplomatic editor of The Guardian newspaper. After a life in media and publishing, Charles Wintour became the editor-in-chief of the London Evening Standard.

Under his leadership, the Evening Standard was described as a "blend of popular and serious news and opinion" which prefigured many of the broadsheets of the 21st century". Wintour was educated at the University of Cambridge, where he edited Granta magazine.

Early life

Wintour was born in Pamphill Manor, near Wimborne, Dorset to Alice Jane Blanche Foster and Major-General Fitzgerald Wintour. He was the brother of Cordelia Mary Wintour. He wrote articles for the Radio Times when he was at Oundle School and won a prize awarded by the Daily Mail. He went up to Peterhouse, Cambridge to read English and history. At Cambridge, he edited briefly the Granta magazine with Eric Hobsbawm.

Career After Cambridge, Wintour took an advertising job in London but left at the start of World War II to join the Royal Norfolk Regiment. During the war, he was awarded the military MBE, the Croix de Guerre and the Bronze Star.

Although circulation fell under Wintour's editorship, he was well-regarded and was considered for the post of editor of The Times in 1967. In 1984, they launched Working Woman magazine. A year later, Wintour became editor of the Press Gazette and advised on the launch of Today, The Independent, the new London Daily News, an account of decision-making during every hour of the day in a newsroom; and The Rise and Fall of Fleet Street in 1989, an analysis of London's Fleet Street as a publishing centre and the people responsible for its historic rise and the more recent responses to new technology.

Wintour retired in 1989 and spent his later years supporting the Liberal Democrats and chairing the regional National Art Collections Fund.

Death Wintour died in London, U.K. on 4 November 1999. He was 82. The Guardian stated in their obituary that he was "...one of the greatest editors of the second half of the century. He essentially invented the modern London Evening Standard." The Independent noted his influence in launching new newspapers "...during the 1980s, as new technology and the weakening of the print unions provided the opportunity for long- awaited change in the industry, he lent his experience and advice to several new launches, among them The Independent."

Legacy

Influence Organisers of major drama awards have acknowledged Wintour's impact on London theatre. When he retired in 1982, the Society of London Theatre gave him the Society of London Theatre Special Award, which usually went to actors, directors and such. After his death, his Evening Standard Theatre Awards added his name into one category to create The Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright. At his memorial wake in 1999 that was supervised by his daughter Anna, the playwright Harold Pinter read from his work and expressed gratitude for his play The Caretaker winning the Best Play award in 1960, which lifted off his career.