Jeremy Murray-Brown—noted television journalist, documentarian, author, and professor—passed away on October 27 at age 93, leaving behind the large and loving family he considered the great achievement of his life: his wife, Lucy, and his six children, 13 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
Jeremy was born in the North-West Frontier Province of British India, where his father, Gilbert, worked as a civil engineer on vast irrigation projects. His mother, Norah (née Burkitt), was the daughter of the province’s chief engineer. Like many British children of the Raj, Jeremy and his older brother, Ian, were sent off to school in England at an early age—Jeremy was 6 and Ian was 8. Although their parents intended to visit the boys every summer, World War II kept the family apart for the next five years.
After attending Forres School and then Winchester College, where he immersed himself in Latin, Greek, and scripture, Jeremy completed his two compulsory years in the National Service as an officer in the elite King’s Royal Rifle Corps. He then enrolled at Oxford, earning a double first in Modern History from New College.
Jeremy went to work as a producer at BBC Television, contributing to high-profile programs including the current affairs show Panorama (where he was on the team that broadcast the infamous spaghetti-tree hoax on April Fool’s Day 1957.) He traveled to dozens of countries as a BBC documentarian, once getting tossed into a Paris prison by jittery gendarmes the day Charles de Gaulle returned to France and another time hitching a ride to his Moscow hotel on the back of a Soviet tank on May Day. His films for the BBC included Suicide of a Nation, A Third Testament, and Ten Years of What?, about the 1960s. During this period, Jeremy met many of the political and cultural leaders of the day, including Queen Elizabeth II, and The Beatles.
A shift to freelancing allowed Jeremy to work on a broader array of projects, including Portraits of Power, a 26-part series on 20th-century leaders co-produced by The New York Times, and several documentaries made in collaboration with journalist and social critic Malcolm Muggeridge, a close friend from his BBC days. He also wrote books, including Kenyatta, a portrait of Kenya’s first president, and Faith and the Flag: The Opening of Africa. To help finance his work and support his growing family, Jeremy created a business preparing politicians and business leaders to appear on television.
Jeremy had three teenage children (Mark, Kate, and Andrew) from his first marriage when he married Lucy Coombs, an American with three children of her own (Sayre, Cokey, and Holly), in 1979. They initially lived in Washington, D.C., and two years later moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Jeremy became a professor of film and television at Boston University. He was a dedicated teacher, known for his keen interest in his students’ ideas and aspirations, his probing intellect, and his gift for sharing the power of nonfiction storytelling through film. He stayed in contact with many of his students long after he retired from teaching in 2007.
Jeremy found his greatest happiness and purpose in his blended family. To his children and grandchildren, he was a warm and wise listener and an unflagging source of support as they made their way in the world. His deep devotion to Lucy was apparent to all, and even as dementia finally stole much of his memory, he never forgot that she was the person he adored most in the world.
Among Jeremy’s other fond companions in life were his Labrador retrievers, especially his beloved Casper. A lifelong walker, Jeremy was often seen out and about with a dog at his side.
In his final years Jeremy and his family were blessed to be aided by his extraordinary caregiver, Kato.
Jeremy was guided always by his strong Christian faith, and his loved ones find solace in knowing that he has found eternal peace.
The family will hold a memorial service for Jeremy in early December in Cambridge.
Jeremy was born in the North-West Frontier Province of British India, where his father, Gilbert, worked as a civil engineer on vast irrigation projects. His mother, Norah (née Burkitt), was the daughter of the province’s chief engineer. Like many British children of the Raj, Jeremy and his older brother, Ian, were sent off to school in England at an early age—Jeremy was 6 and Ian was 8. Although their parents intended to visit the boys every summer, World War II kept the family apart for the next five years.
After attending Forres School and then Winchester College, where he immersed himself in Latin, Greek, and scripture, Jeremy completed his two compulsory years in the National Service as an officer in the elite King’s Royal Rifle Corps. He then enrolled at Oxford, earning a double first in Modern History from New College.
Jeremy went to work as a producer at BBC Television, contributing to high-profile programs including the current affairs show Panorama (where he was on the team that broadcast the infamous spaghetti-tree hoax on April Fool’s Day 1957.) He traveled to dozens of countries as a BBC documentarian, once getting tossed into a Paris prison by jittery gendarmes the day Charles de Gaulle returned to France and another time hitching a ride to his Moscow hotel on the back of a Soviet tank on May Day. His films for the BBC included Suicide of a Nation, A Third Testament, and Ten Years of What?, about the 1960s. During this period, Jeremy met many of the political and cultural leaders of the day, including Queen Elizabeth II, and The Beatles.
A shift to freelancing allowed Jeremy to work on a broader array of projects, including Portraits of Power, a 26-part series on 20th-century leaders co-produced by The New York Times, and several documentaries made in collaboration with journalist and social critic Malcolm Muggeridge, a close friend from his BBC days. He also wrote books, including Kenyatta, a portrait of Kenya’s first president, and Faith and the Flag: The Opening of Africa. To help finance his work and support his growing family, Jeremy created a business preparing politicians and business leaders to appear on television.
Jeremy had three teenage children (Mark, Kate, and Andrew) from his first marriage when he married Lucy Coombs, an American with three children of her own (Sayre, Cokey, and Holly), in 1979. They initially lived in Washington, D.C., and two years later moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Jeremy became a professor of film and television at Boston University. He was a dedicated teacher, known for his keen interest in his students’ ideas and aspirations, his probing intellect, and his gift for sharing the power of nonfiction storytelling through film. He stayed in contact with many of his students long after he retired from teaching in 2007.
Jeremy found his greatest happiness and purpose in his blended family. To his children and grandchildren, he was a warm and wise listener and an unflagging source of support as they made their way in the world. His deep devotion to Lucy was apparent to all, and even as dementia finally stole much of his memory, he never forgot that she was the person he adored most in the world.
Among Jeremy’s other fond companions in life were his Labrador retrievers, especially his beloved Casper. A lifelong walker, Jeremy was often seen out and about with a dog at his side.
In his final years Jeremy and his family were blessed to be aided by his extraordinary caregiver, Kato.
Jeremy was guided always by his strong Christian faith, and his loved ones find solace in knowing that he has found eternal peace.
The family will hold a memorial service for Jeremy in early December in Cambridge.
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