Addison Cresswell – the best agent I ever dealt with

Peter Fincham, ITV director of television, remembers Addison Cresswell, the agent and producer who died on Sunday, aged 53.

The world of entertainment is still struggling to come to terms with the sudden death of Addison Cresswell at the age of 53. 

Throughout yesterday phonecalls and texts were exchanged by an enormous range of people in the comedy  and television world – how did you hear? When did you last see him? And can we imagine life without him? The cruel timing of his death, three days before Christmas, mocked the business he was in – the business of entertainment, of making people laugh. Thoughts are with his wife Shelley who was with him, at home, when he passed away on Sunday evening.

I last saw him – and Shelley – on Friday afternoon. They'd bought me a Christmas present and he was determined to deliver it personally to the ITV offices. "You're going to love it!' he said. That was one of his favourite phrases.  He'd somehow got me a signed photo of a poster for a recent Bob Dylan concert. "I got one for you and one for Jack Dee," he exclaimed. "How on earth did you get it signed?' "Someone owed me a favour!'"

He lived in a world of favours, and loved to cultivate the persona of the rough-at-the-edges student promoter he once was, ducking and diving as he put together his latest deal. In Addison's world, disaster was never far away. "It's a nightmare!" he would shout down the phone. "I've had enough of this business! I'm getting out!" It was all play-acting – he loved every minute of it.

Behind the cartoon image, the tailored suits, the Estuary accent – "But you're a nice middle class boy from Sussex, Addison!" "Don't you start on about that again!" – lay the sharpest mind. He was the best agent I ever dealt with, shrewd and sophisticated, and utterly devoted to his clients.

He was a pioneer and one of the key figures responsible for turning comedy into the industry it is today. His list of A-grade performers – Michael McIntyre, Lee Evans, Jonathan Ross, Alan Carr and many others – speaks for itself. To the best of my knowledge, no client ever left him. 

A few weeks before he died I went round to his new office in Clerkenwell. He had installed some huge, high-tech fishtanks – "You're going to love them!" - and wanted to show them off to me. I was introduced to his staff – "They're like family!" – and shown round his gleaming new headquarters. Every wall of the building was lined with posters of every act he'd promoted, every programme he'd made.

His pride in everything he'd achieved was obvious. He had so many plans for the future, one of which was to fund a new wing of Great Ormond Street hospital through the charity shows he produced.

Such was the force of his personality that it was commonplace to say that "why isn't Addison famous himself?" but he shunned the limelight. It was all about his clients.  In the world he operated in, though, he was always famous, and those of us who dealt with him won't easily forget him.

"It's all kicking off!" was another one of his favourite phrases, exclaimed with a mixture of mischief and relish. I can't quite believe that it won't be kicking off again in the New Year with my friend Addison.

Kenton Allen, chief executive of independent producer Big Talk:

"To paraphrase Christopher Hitchens, Addison burnt the candle at both ends, and it often cast a lovely light.

"I've known him all my professional life and he never asked me for anything more than you'd want to give and always offered me everything he possibly could.

"Kind and clever. Funnier than most of his clients and a true hero of British comedy. Profoundly sad that he's gone too soon."