The Resume

(April 29, 1895-October 3, 1967)
Born in Ashford, England, United Kingdom
Birth name was Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent
Principal conductor for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (1942-48) and the BBC Symphony Orchestra (1950-57)
Succeeded Henry Wood as conductor of the Proms summer music festival (1948-67)
Knighted for services to music (1947)

Why he might be annoying:

His dandyish appearance earned him the nickname 'Flash Harry.'
He was a notorious womanizer before, during and after his marriage, and had affairs with Princess Marina and Edwina Mountbatten.
He often had hostile relations with the musicians in the orchestras because of his demanding standards.
He further alienated musicians when he told an interviewer that orchestra members did not deserve a 'job for life,' which really ticked off those musicians who had stood by him when he had to take a two-year sabbatical after an attack of tuberculosis.

Why he might not be annoying:

He was on the verge of accepting an appointment with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation when WWII broke out, and he decided it was his duty to return home to England.
When an air raid siren interrupted a performance of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, he stopped the orchestra, calmed the audience by saying they would be safer staying in the concert hall than fleeing outside, then resumed conducting.
His daughter Pamela died of polio (1944).
He helped save the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from going under financially after the death of Thomas Beecham.
Toscanini praised him as the greatest choral conductor in the world.

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 41]
• Diseased Initials
• I am an Adulterer
• I Died in 1967 (Ranked: 72)
• I Earned a Doctorate
• I Have Pancreatic Cancer
• I Have Tuberculosis
• I Outlived My Child
• I was Estranged From My Child
• Knights
• Known By a Middle Name
• Look at My Flag
• My Song was Inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame (Ranked: 1989)
• Opera Singers and Composers
• Profiles 32501-32750 (Ranked: 32742)
• Served in World War I
• We Died on the Same Day (Ranked: 19671003)

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 136 Votes: 44.85% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 14 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 31 Votes: 58.06% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 16 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 18 Votes: 88.89% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 198 Votes: 56.06% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 61 Votes: 60.66% Annoying
In 2013, Out of 45 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
In 2012, Out of 787 Votes: 72.81% Annoying