Rupert Dilnott-Cooper

Published: 01 August, 2013
by PAVAN AMARA

AT work his colleagues “hung onto his every word”, but at home television executive Rupert Dilnott-Cooper loved nothing more than a “good old-fashioned water-pistol fight” with his sons.

The 59-year-old died in May, following a high-flying media career where he struck landmark deals which shaped British television, brought international business to UK networks and even revived the Thunderbirds franchise.

He was educated at Eton and Oxford University – sharing his law degree days with Tony Blair at Hertford College – before taking a job at Warner Brothers’ PR company Production Associates.

His first task was accompanying actress Brooke Shields on her first UK press tour.

He went on to work for ITC Entertainment, distributing television shows like The Saint and The Muppet Show, and moved on to become Central’s head of contracts and later chief executive at Carlton Content.

Kate, his wife of 34 years, met him at a friend’s party in 1976. Three years later they were married in Yorkshire “in the middle of a blizzard”, which Rupert used to say “didn’t make for good photos but made for priceless memories”.

The couple moved from Sloane Square to Chalk Farm in 1980, and then bought a flat in England’s Lane where two sons, Ed and Will, were born. They moved to Glenmore Road, Belsize Park, in 1992.

Kate said: “He did have a very successful career, but his personality at home was like a big kid with lots of toys. It was probably quite different to how his colleagues would have seen him.

“Our marriage was so much fun. That’s what kept it going all the way to 34 years. He didn’t believe in Valentine’s Day but he did keep me smiling every day. He was the first to start a hosepipe fight if we were sitting in the garden.”

She added: “One memory that always makes me laugh is when our eldest son was born. Throughout my pregnancy he had said that all babies look the same, that there would be nothing to distinguish our baby from any other. But when he came along he turned to me one day and said: ‘Actually Kate, I think our baby is probably better looking than any other baby in the world.’ That’s what fatherhood did to him. He was doting, and incredibly proud of his children.”

His wife added that Rupert was “spontaneous – he lost his bank card numerous times – not one of those people who saved all the money and fun for retirement”; he was one who enjoyed life.

“He used to say: ‘Well, what happens if you don’t get to retirement?’” she said. “He was right, of course. His father had died aged 59 too, and also of leukaemia.”

His father had coached the British ski team so tickets to last year’s closing Olympics ceremony could not be resisted. Kate said: “He’d grown up with his father going to the Winter Olympics, so it was in his blood, and he cherished it as our family day out.”

In August 2012, he was diagnosed with leukaemia at the Royal Free Hospital. After five courses of chemotherapy, he passed away at home on May 20 surrounded by his sons and wife. “The last thing he said to us was ‘thank you’ for bringing him home. That meant a lot to all of us,” she said.

Rupert was at the heart of Conservative Chris Philp’s 2010 election campaign in Hampstead and Kilburn.

Mr Philp said: “He was always bouncing around, handing out our election leaflets. His enthusiasm was infectious. He buoyed everyone up and that’s how we will always remember him.”