Jools Holland pays tribute to Grammy award winner Geoff Wonfor

Geoff Wonfor, from Newcastle, died on Monday 21 November and won a Grammy for his work on The Beatles Anthology. Credit: PA

Musician and television presenter Jools Holland has paid tribute to “one of the greatest” music film directors following his death.

Geoff Wonfor, from Newcastle, died on Monday 21 November at the age of 74.

Mr Wonfor was well-known across the music industry and won a Grammy for his work on The Beatles Anthology.

He was also behind The Tube, which was broadcast live from Newcastle’s Tyne Tees Television studios for Channel 4 in the 1980s.

Mr Holland, who presented The Tube, said: "Geoff Wonfor was one of my oldest friends and one of the greatest directors of film in television I think there has ever been.

“I first met him when I went to Tyne Tees to do The Tube. I was immediately drawn to him and became great friends with him because whatever he did, he did with humour. He had the greatest of Georgie charm.

"Somehow he managed to charm everyone and get the best result out of them. People loved being filmed by him because they knew they could trust him. He was trying to get the best out of them. That’s why The Beatles chose him to make the film about them. They trusted him to do the best for them."

He added: "He was just one of the greatest music film directors that the world has ever seen. I don’t think we’ll see his like again.

"It's a loss for the industry and a loss for his friends.

"He was very, very funny. We used to howl with laughter."

Geoff Wonfor worked on North East favourite production Sunday for Sammy. Credit: PA

Yesterday, people who worked with Mr Wonfor over the years paid tribute to him.

As well as The Tube, which he created with his wife Andrea, he was heavily involved in the Sunday for Sammy concerts and worked with huge stars including The Beatles and Prince, with whom he once spent Christmas due to a snow storm.

He also directed the video for Band Aid 20: Do They Know It's Christmas? in 2004.

Mr Holland said: "We’ve got to remember what a great contribution he made. It’s really important people not forget The Tube, which was Tyne Tees made, completely changed what music TV had been about and invented youth TV.

"It was an incredible achievement for it to be made in Newcastle and it wouldn’t have been nearly as good if it hadn’t been. Geoff was one of the most important parts of that."

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