Victor Lewis-Smith, a film and television producer as well as a newspaper writer, died on December 10 after a brief illness. At the time of his death, he was 65 years old. His publicist, Mark Borkowski, paid homage to him on Twitter and expressed astonishment at the news. In another tweet, he sent a photo of some words penned by Victor and stated:
“This is an excerpt from Victor Lewis Smith’s collection of TV reviews. He never shied away from an enraged celebrity eager to settle a grudge, which was frequently sparked by his caustic humor.”
Because Victor’s medical history is presently unknown, no information on the cause of his death is accessible. His funeral arrangements have yet to be finalized.
The joy of Victor Lewis Smith -RIP pic.twitter.com/28suzcZ5Ap
— Mark Borkowski (@MarkBorkowski) December 12, 2022
Victor Lewis-Smith worked on a number of cinema, television, and radio productions.
Lewis-Smith, who was born on May 12, 1957, took over Associated Diffusion and renamed it Associated-Rediffusion Productions Limited. Victor made a good living as a newspaper writer. He began writing for Time Out magazine in 1980 and went on to write articles for the Sunday Correspondent, The Mail on Sunday, Esquire, The Independent, Harpers & Queen, The Guardian, The London Evening Standard, and other publications. Buygones and Inside the Magic Rectangle are two of his novels.
He also appeared on Club X, Up Your Arts, TV Offal, Z For Fake, The Vicious Circle, Jake on the Box, Steve McQueen: The Lost Movie, The ITV Food & Drink Awards, The Undiscovered Peter Cook, and other shows. Victor was also the executive producer of much additional television series. He also earned notoriety for his court struggle with Gordon Ramsay, in which he accused Ramsay of having someone else appear on television in his place. Despite Ramsay’s denials and the settlement of the case, Channel 4 admitted the facts the following year.
Lewis-Smith was sued by hypnotist Paul McKenna, who alleged in a Daily Mirror piece that he distorted information about his Ph.D. Victor paid large money to resolve the court case. Lewis-Smith also remained a regular on many radio programs. His time at Broadcasting Medway helped him much in his radio career. He was a DJ at BBC Radio York until 1985, then moved on to BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 1. Despite some criticism, Victor was famous for his prank calls, and his comic work was eventually included on two cassettes titled Tested on Humans for Irritancy and Nuisance Calls.
Victor Lewis-Smith never revealed anything about his upbringing, hence the identity of his parents is unclear. However, some information about his educational history is accessible, indicating that he attended the University of York. Several netizens expressed their condolences on social media. His wife Virginia and their daughter Lucia survive him.