Tracey Ullman's husband backed Jerry Springer: The Opera

Allan McKeown, the veteran producer and husband of Tracey Ullman, has died at the age of 67.

He had undergone a long battle with prostate cancer and died at his home in Los Angeles surrounded by his family.

Born in Ealing, West London, he started his career as a hairdresser before moving into production.

He initially made adverts, and set up the production company Witzend with comedy writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, making him one of the first independent television producers in the UK. The company also made the film version of the writers' sitcom Porridge.

As the company grew, it took over Alomo, a company run by another comedy writing duo, Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran. In 1990, McKeown was a founding member of the Meridian consortium which won the ITV franchise for the South East of England.

McKeown’s TV credits executive producer include Shine On Harvey Moon, Birds Of A Feather and Girls On Top, starring Ruby Wax, French & Saunders and Ullman – who he had married in 1983.

In 1996, he moved to the States to work on his wife’s series Tracey Takes On for HBO. The couple were recently said to have a net worth of more than $100million.

More recently, he produced the stage and TV version of Jerry Springer: The Opera and the ITV1 sitcom Mumbai Calling, starring Sanjeev Bhaskar, for which he was also a credited writer.

He is survived by Ullman and their children, daughter Mabel and son Johnny.

Published: 26 Dec 2013