Rebecca Eaton

Rebecca Eaton

Rebecca Eaton was born on November 7th, 1947 and is currently 78 years old. Rebecca Eaton was born in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Eaton attended Vassar College where she received an A.B. in English Literature.

Rebecca Eaton is a TV and film producer who is best known for introducing American audiences to British costume and countryside dramas as the executive producer of the PBS Masterpiece series.

She was born in Boston and grew up in Pasadena, California. Her dad was a Caltech English literature professor while her mom, Katherine Emery, was an actress both on Broadway (in Lillian Hellman’s The Children’s Hour) and in film. Rebecca remembers visiting New York every season to see Broadway shows and spending her junior high school days getting lost in Jane Eyre.

Rebecca attended Polytechnic School, graduating in 1965, and then Vassar, where she earned her AB in English literature in 1969. Her senior thesis was on Dubliners by James Joyce.

She became the third executive of Masterpiece Theatre. Christopher Sarson was at the helm from the 1971 inception. He’d bought Upstairs, Downstairs from ITV. Eaton succeeded Joan Wilson, the show’s second executive producer, in 1985.

Masterpiece, while under Rebecca, extended its reach into feature film co-production for such films like Mrs. Brown, which starred Dame Judi Dench and Jane Austen’s Persuasion.

By 2011, Rebecca had been executive producer of the show for 25 of its 40 years on the air.

In 1984, she married Paul Robert Cooper, a sculptor. Their daughter was born right before Rebecca got named Masterpiece’s executive producer. She credits her husband’s willingness to stay home with having advanced her career.

She’s credited with producing for American audiences series that include: Upstairs, Downstairs (remake), Endeavour, Prime Suspect, Downton Abbey, Sherlock, Little Dorrit, Wallander, House of Cards, Agatha Christie’s Marple, Cranford, The Complete Jane Austen, Bleak House, and Inspector Morse.

Rebecca’s honors include 16 Peabody Awards, 2 Academy Award nominations, 6 Golden Globes, and 62 Primetime Emmy Awards. Queen Elizabeth II honored her with an honorary OBE. In 2011, she was one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World”.

Making Masterpiece: 25 Years Behind the Scenes at Masterpiece Theatre and Mystery! on PBS. Rebecca Eaton, for over 25 years, has presided over PBS’s Masterpiece Theatre, the longest-running weekly primetime drama series in American history. In this book, she interviews numerous directors, writers, producers, and other contributors and shares some personal anecdotes about her decades-long career.

She reveals what went on behind the scenes of such triumphs as Cranford, as well as the highly rated programs made from Jane Austen novels, along with her aggressive campaign to attract younger viewers through online streaming and social media. Along the way, she shares stories about actors and other luminaries.

Related Authors

Fans of Rebecca Eaton also enjoy these authors:

1. J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter Series.
2. Charles Dickens, author of: A Christmas Carol.
3. David Baldacci, author of the Amos Decker Series.
4. Dean Koontz, author of the Odd Thomas Series.
5. Louise Penny, author of the Inspector Gamache Series.

Rebecca Eaton: F.A.Q