Jess Yates
Jesse Frederick Joseph Yates (20 December 1918 – 9 April 1993) was an English television presenter and producer. He was the creator, presenter and producer of Yorkshire Television’s religious programme Stars on Sunday.
He was born in Tyldesley, Lancashire. His family moved to Llandudno when he was five. After leaving school, Yates worked as a Cinema Organist. Yates was born into a show business family; his mother booked stage acts. After the war he worked for BBC Television as a freelance designer and joined the BBC on the production side in 1949. He was involved with programmes such as Come Dancing, The Good Old Days and the Miss World competition. In later life, he lived in the village of Rowen, near Conwy in North Wales.
In 1968, he became Head of Children's programmes for Yorkshire Television. The following year, he began hosting Stars on Sunday. Yates would introduce the show seated at an electric organ – placed in front of a stained-glass window. One of his many observations was, "We can't see round the bend in the road, but God can." The programme attracted many special guests, including Harry Secombe, Dame Anna Neagle, and Gracie Fields. He was quoted as wanting stars to appear on the programme as that is what he thought would persuade viewers to tune in. Viewing figures rose to 22 million, peaking at 26 million.
