Background
Wilfred was born in Berlin and comes from the famous Jewish Cassirer family.
Wilfred was born in Berlin and comes from the famous Jewish Cassirer family.
University of Westminster.
After the war, Wilfred worked as junior research engineer for Telephone Rentals in Knightsbridge, London (1946-1947) before embarking on an HND in Communication Technology at the Regent Street Polytechnic in London between 1947-1951. In 1987 Wilfred became Chairman and Chief Executive of Moss Bros Plc where he reorganised the whole of the troubled group including moving and selling its head office, starting up a new range of Suit Shops and buying Cecil Gee Plc. He remained at the company until 1991.
Upon retiring from Moss Bros in 1992, Wilfred moved to West Sussex from London where he co-founded the registered charity, The Cass Sculpture Foundation (previously known as Sculpture at Goodwood) in 1992.
Over the next year, they visited some thirty sculpture parks around the world before deciding upon the style, aim and design of their own estate. Based in Goodwood, West Sussex, the charitable foundation"s aim and consistent focus is to promote and advance British sculpture to a global audience and through a vigorous programme of commissioning, funding and marketing, the Foundation has enabled the fabrication of 150 major new works by leading British artists.
Cass was created a Commander of the British Empire (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) on 17 June 2006. In April 2008 Cass was awarded an honorary degree from the Open University as Doctor of the University.
The National Portrait Gallery collection includes a portrait of Wilfred and Jeannette Cass by Anne-Katrin Purkiss.
In 2008 Cass sat for a portrait sculpture in terracotta by Jon Edgar which is in the collection of the sitter and was exhibited at Yorkshire Sculpture Park in 2013 as part of the Sculpture Series Heads.
