He was a fixture at all international film and TV markets where he seemed to be on constant march despite walking curved to one side due to a life-long and painful condition known as spondylitis. He was impossible to miss, until now.
Veteran British film and TV executive Paul Shields passed away in London on April 3, one day before his 75th birthday.
His long-time friend and colleague, Bill Peck, told VideoAge, “He had been in the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in Fulham, West London for over a month and, as there was absolutely no hope of recovery, he decided to terminate his medication and food and liquid intake about two weeks prior.”
Peck, who first met Shields when both worked at BBC Enterprises in 1968, added that Shields had also been diagnosed with Parkinson’s a few years ago. “Paul’s bravery was truly astonishing,” he said. “When I visited him in hospital for the first time, he could hardly move or, indeed, speak, but his eyes sparkled, and his brain was 100 percent active.”
Shields began his TV career as one of the first employees of BBC Enterprises, the commercial arm of the BBC, which later became BBC Worldwide. He later worked at Lew Grade’s ITC before starting his own company, The Box Office, which dealt with content sales and consultancy. In 1998, he co-founded Indigo Film.
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