Denis O’ Dell Producer Of Beatles Films Passed Away At 98

Denis O’Dell, best known for his work on films featuring The Beatles has died at the age of 98. O’Dell died at his home in Almería, Spain, due to natural causes on 30 December 2021. His death was announced to the Associated Press in Lisbon, Portugal, by son Arran O’Dell.

O’Dell helped produce Beatles movies. He first began working with the band on their 1964 debut film “A Hard Day’s Night”. Three years later he served as an associate producer on “How I Won the War” starring John Lennon and as a producer on the band’s documentary “Magical Mystery Tour”.

He has also worked on a number of films including, “It’s A Wonderful World” and “Tread Softly Stranger” both in 1958 and “The Playboy of the Western World” in 1962.

O’Dell is the one who loaned the group Twickenham Studios for their planned TV special of The Beatles Disney+ documentary series The Beatles: Get Back directed by Peter Jackson. It was O’Dell who allowed the Beatles to use Twickenham studios to begin recording what eventually became the Let It Be album, although they eventually opted to return to Abbey Road studio instead.

He was also mentioned on the band’s 1970 B-side “You Know My Name (Look Up the Number),” with Lennon shouting “Let’s hear it for Denis O’Dell!” while introducing Paul McCartney. O’Dell then revealed in an interview with Steve Turner for the book A Hard Day’s Write, that the song led to a large number of prank phone calls from Beatles fans.