Robert Stigwood: Impresario who managed the Bee Gees and helped to create 'Saturday Night Fever'

“Robert never thought big – he thought massive,” said Sir Tim Rice of the business impresario Robert Stigwood, who turned Rice's musicals Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita into worldwide phenomenons. The far-sighted entrepreneur also oversaw the stage and film productions of Saturday Night Fever and Grease and the management of Cream and the Bee Gees.

Stigwood was born in Adelaide, Australia in 1934. His father, Robert, was an electrical engineer and his mother, Gwendolyn, ran a nursing home. He began his career as an advertising copywriter, before moving to the UK in 1955.

After working at a theatre in Portsmouth, he set up a theatrical agency with a friend, Stephen Komlosy. He called it Robert Stigwood Associates and found impressive offices in Mayfair.

One of his first discoveries was the handsome young actor John Leyton. He got him the part of Ginger in the TV series Biggles, and secured him the role of pop singer Johnny St Cyr (Sincere) in the ATV series Harpers West One. He spoke to the record producer Joe Meek, and a song, “Johnny Remember Me”, was released to coincide with the progamme. It hit the top of the UK charts in August 1961.

This led to Stigwood signing other singers, notably Mike Sarne (“Come Outside”) and Mike Berry (“Tribute to Buddy Holly”, “Doncha Think It's Time”). Stigwood was initially amazed at the ease at which money could be made, but he soon discovered he could lose it just as easily. He heavily promoted a young singer, Simon Scott, to no avail, and a tour with P J Proby was cancelled after the star continually split his velvet trousers on stage – and was accused of indecency. Stigwood fell out with Komlosy and had to use his wits to avoid personal bankruptcy.

Unfortunately for Stigwood, he thought of managing the Small Faces, thereby ousting their current manager, Don Arden. Arden went round to his office with some heavies and dangled him out of the window. Arden told him that next time they would let go.

Not to worry. Stigwood leased office space to Chris Stamp and Kit Lambert, who managed The Who. He became the group's booking agent and he persuaded them to join a new label, Reaction, which established itself with “Substitute” and “I'm a Boy”.

In 1967, Stigwood signed the Bee Gees, who had had success in Australia with “Spicks and Specks”; but despite paying pirate stations for plays, the record did not sell in the UK. The Bee Gees soon found success with “New York Mining Disaster 1941” and a string of hits followed – but Stigwood had to manage the tensions between the three brothers as well as the group itself.

In 1966 Stigwood had invited three musicians who had been working in London-based blues groups to form the first so-called supergroup, Cream. Stigwood, who was often just ahead of public tastes, saw the potential in merging psychedelia with the blues – but although Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker made several significant recordings and gave memorable performances, the group was always on a knife-edge and close to anarchy.

At the start of 1967, Brian Epstein merged his company, NEMS, with Stigwood's. Stigwood appeared to get the better of the deal until the Beatles violently objected to him having any say in their career. After Epstein died in August 1967, the Beatles formed their own company, Apple Corps, and had an unhappy period with Allen Klein, while Stigwood formed the Robert Stigwood Organisation and an affiliated record label, RSO.

Also in 1967, Stigwood purchased a controlling interest in Associated London Scripts, an agency for comedy scriptwriters. In a groundbreaking move, he licensed the concept of marketing new versions of successful UK shows in other countries – and in particular, Til Death Us Do Part had enormous success in its US format, All in the Family.

When Stigwood saw the hippie musical Hair on Broadway, he knew he would have difficulty bringing it to the West End as the very staid Lord Chamberlain would insist on cuts. However, the post was abolished in 1968 and Hair heralded a new freedom in West End theatre. Stigwood followed Hair with the highly explicit Oh! Calcutta!

In 1971, Stigwood saw the potential of Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar, and he produced another of their successes, Evita. He also oversaw the films of the two musicals, the latter starring Madonna in 1996. He produced both the 1975 film and the many stage performances of the Who's rock opera, Tommy.

In 1976, Stigwood secured the rights to a short story by the rock writer Nik Cohn about the disco scene in New York. This duly became the hugely successful 1977 film Saturday Night Fever, starring John Travolta. The soundtrack double-album on RSO sold 40 million copies.

The following year, Stigwood teamed Travolta with Olivia Newton-John for the film of a revamped stage musical, Grease, and this proved another massive success, with the soundtrack album selling over 25 million copies. The spin-offs of the two films, Staying Alive and Grease 2, were less successful – but the stage productions of both originals have had worldwide success.

Stigwood's instincts weren't always right. A film based on the Beatles' album Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978), featuring contemporary music stars, looked like a winner – but the story was weak and saccharine. Peter Frampton was okay as the lead, but the Bee Gees lacked the easy-going charm of the Beatles. Still, the film is an engaging oddity with cameos from George Burns, Frankie Howerd and Steve Martin. The best known performance is Earth Wind and Fire's “Got to Get You Into My Life”.

In 1980 the Bee Gees sued Stigwood, saying that he was holding back on their royalties. The matter was settled out of court and the parties were reconciled. In the same year, Stigwood released the soundtrack albums for The Empire Strikes Back and Fame – but soon his label was absorbed into the PolyGram empire.

Stigwood spent much of his later life living at Barton Manor on the Isle of Wight.

Robert Colin Stigwood, film producer and music impresario: born Adelaide 16 April 1934; died 4 January 2016.