Eric Douglas Morley (26 September 1918 – 9 November 2000) was an English television host and the founder of the Miss World pageant and Come Dancing programme.
It employed 15,000 people and covered dance halls, catering, bingo, gambling, ice-skating rinks, bowling alleys, discos and several restaurants.
The company also provided catering and entertainment services for several of the biggest football clubs in London; Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.
In 1983 he floated Miss World Group on the Unlisted Securities Market of the London Stock Exchange, keeping a 51 per cent stake.
At the Miss World 1979, Venezuelan contestant Tatiana Capote popped out of her swimsuit during a preview of the final judging.
[citation needed] On 9 November 2000, the day after the contestants first paraded at the Millennium Dome in preparation for the 2000 Miss World finals, he had a heart attack and died in the Princess Grace Hospital, west London.
A service of thanksgiving was held in the Guards Chapel, Wellington Barracks, with the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh being represented.
[citation needed] Morley is portrayed by Rhys Ifans in the 2020 British comedy-drama film Misbehaviour, about the feminist protest at Miss World 1970,[9] and by Neil Pearson in the Jimmy Savile television drama The Reckoning (2023).