ERIC MORLEYbecame a household name when hecreated the controversial Miss World competition. He appeared on stage toannounce each year's winner until his death, aged 82, on 9 November, 2000.Originally a publicity stunt devised byMr Morley in 1951 to promote entertainment group Mecca, the competition attracteda UK audience of 20 million during its 1970s and 1980s heyday.As director of Mecca, Mr Morley presided overthe company's rise from a small catering and entertainment firm to one of theUK's leading entertainment companies.A keen supporter of Margaret Thatcher, hecame within two hundred votes of becoming an MP in the 1979 election. Hiscolourful career also included founding TV show "Come Dancing" and aspell as President of Variety Clubs international.Eric Douglas Morley was born on 28November, 1918, in London. He was orphaned, age 11, when his mother andstepfather died of tuberculosis. His father died young - Mr Morley later claimedhis father had attended Oxford and spoke nine languages.Originally educated at Whitstable GrammarSchool, he was sent to the Royal Navy Training Ship 'Exmouth' by London CountyCouncil upon his mother's death. There he displayed an early entrepreneurialflair by selling sweets to friends.Aged 14, he joined the Royal Fusiliers andplayed the french horn in the band. During World War II, he was a captain inthe Royal Service Corps and organised entertainment for the troops.After being demobilised in 1946, he joinedentertainment group Mecca. As a publicity officer, he made lastingcontributions to entertainment, creating TV show "Come Dancing" in1948 and the Miss World competition in 1951.His role developed as Mecca grew from asmall entertainment firm into one of the UK's largest leisure groups and, by1952, he was head of Mecca's dance division. The following year, he became a company director.After falling out with Mecca's parentcompany, Grand Metropolitan, he left Mecca in 1978. He became chairman ofailing Scottish brewers Bellhaven and President of entertainers' charityVariety Clubs international.He flirted with politics during the 1979election, and with Margaret Thatcher for who he said he would 'do anything',when he narrowly failed to become the Conservative MP for Dulwich, southLondon.He was still lively at 63 when he completedthe London marathon despite a damaged hamstring, and remained so until hemissed the launch of the Miss World 2000 competition with a 'bad back'. He diedthe following day of a heart attack.Eric Morley is best known for creating theMiss World competition, which attracted 20 million UK viewers during its heydayand raised £30 million for charity.However the competition remains dogged byaccusations that it exploits women, and it was dropped from UK TV schedules inthe 1980s. In a famous incident in 1970, compere Bob Hope was pelted with flourbombs by protestors.Mr Morley is also credited with launching 'ComeDancing' which became the world's longest running television programme and, asMecca chairman, popularising bingo in the UK.A tireless philanthropist, he raised £100 million for charity. The chairman of the Variety Club of Great Britain,Tony Hatch said of him: "Eric Morley was a giant man in every sense of theword, one of the great humanitarians of the 20th century. "
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