Sir Joseph and Lady Kagan

From the collection of

The Yorkshire Film Archive at York St John University save and celebrate screen heritage made in or about Yorkshire. They connect broad and diverse audiences to their cultural and socially significant collection that reflects the life, landscape, and identity of the people of the region since the 1890s. Together with their sister archive in the North East they form the Yorkshire and North East Film Archive, a unique pan-regional resource with over 75,000 moving image artefacts. They unlock the collections for artists, academics, curators, programmers, researchers, and producers to reveal compelling stories from the vaults. www.yfanefa.com

Sir Joseph and Lady Kagan (Calendar People)

Yorkshire Film Archive
Leeds
1975-04-24
Sound

A series of interviews with prominent figures from the Yorkshire region.

Joseph Kagan was a Lithuanian-British industrialist and the founder of Kagan Textiles of Elland. Kagan achieved his wealth from his waterproof Gannex coats, the technology which he invented and coats as famously worn by Prime Minister Harold Wilson. He and his wife Lady Kagan recount their time under Nazi rule in Lithuania, how they met at a concentration camp, and their story of escape. Kagan was later convicted of theft and false accounting in 1980 and went onto serve 10 months for the offense. While he was stripped of his knighthood, he did retain his peerage, and so on his release could continue to attend the House of Lords as Lord Kagan, where he spoke on prison reform.

Richard Whiteley interviews Sir Joseph Kagan, the Lithuanian-born industrialist and founder of Kagan Textiles of Elland, which makes raincoats from the waterproof Gannex fabric he invented.

Calendar People

A series featuring prominent figures from the Yorkshire region from all walks of life, including everyone from Lord Harewood to Harry Corbett and Sooty.

At the time of his death, Richard Whiteley was believed to have clocked more hours on British television screens - over 10,000 appearances - than anyone else alive, apart from Carole Hersee, the young girl who appeared on the BBC's Test Card F. But before 'Twice Nightly Whitely' became famous for hosting the gameshow Countdown, he was part of Yorkshire TV's early days, presenting Calendar News and regional chat and magazine shows. One such show is Calendar People, which ran for four series from 1975 to 1981. The programme featured a series of interviews with prominent figures from the Yorkshire region. The subjects come from all walks of life and include cricket great Sir Len Hutton, All Creatures Great and Small author James Herriot, Lord and Lady Harewood, novelist Jilly Cooper and the Archbishop of York.

12 videos in this collection

James Herriot

Leeds
1975-04-10

Jim Bullock

Leeds
1975-04-17