One of the most popular men in the film industry, John Wilcox, died after a short illness on Saturday.

The son of the British and Dominion Studios' founder, Herbert Wilcox, John worked as a production manager on a series of popular films.

He was born in St John's Wood in 1921, and the family moved to Hartfield House, in Deacons Hill Road, Elstree, in 1927.

In a recent interview with the Elstree and Borehamwood film history project John recalled watching movies being made at his father's studios in Borehamwood.

"As a child of about eight or nine, it was incredible to watch it happening, great enjoyment.

"I didn't really understand what was going on, but it was just fascinating."

But instead of going straight into the film business, John spent two years studying at the Royal Academy of Music.

John's father Herbert married the movie star Dame Anna Neagle, and in the early 1940s he took John to Los Angeles, where he gained an insider's view of Hollywood during its golden age.

In 1943 he joined the Army Film Unit and travelled around Germany, Sri Lanka and Singapore, documenting the end of the Second World War, and the atrocities carried out by the Nazis.

In 1947 he took a job as an assistant at Shepperton Studios, and worked on a variety of movies before settling into his role as a production manager.

Over the years he helped to make a variety of popular movies, including the naval drama The Yangtze Incident in 1956 and Cliff Richards' musicals of the early 1960s.

He married Elizabeth Everson, and had a daughter, Rosalind, who described her father as: "A very quite, wise gentle man."

His sister, Sheila, said: "There is not a bad word that could be said about him."

John Wilcox's funeral will be held at All Saints Church in Shenley Road at 2.30pm on Monday, February 18. All are welcome to attend.