Blue Peter host Max Stahl has passed away at the age of 66 after suffering with cancer.
Max was known for his role on the popular children’s programme but he was also a war correspondent and bought global attention to the East Timor conflict.
Max passed away on Wednesday after a lengthy battle with cancer.
Known to fans as Christopher Wenner during his time on Blue Peter from 1978-80, the TV star began his career in theatre as an actor and director.
Once he departed from Blue Peter, Max took part in 1984 Doctor Who adventure The Awakening, however, he did not have a speaking role in the final cut.
(Image: Getty Images)
In 1983, Max returned to Blue Peter and again in 1998 to celebrate the programme’s birthdays.
Later on his career, Max took on his mother’s maiden name and took on more work behind the camera.
He went on to win awards for his coverage of global conflicts, reporting from Chechnya and Beirut during the the 1980s and 1990s.
Max would be remembered by viewers for filming the atrocities in East Timor in 1991, when 271 protesters against Indonesian rule were massacred in Dili’s Santa Cruz cemetery.
Max’s portrayal of the disputes brought a turning point in the fight for East Timor’s independence.
(Image: BBC)
Taking to Facebook shortly before his death, former East Timor President and Noble laureate José Ramos-Horta described Max as a “treasured son”.
He wrote: “We honour him as one of the true heroes of our struggle.
“There are only a few key points in the history of Timor-Leste where the course of our nation turned toward freedom. This was one of those points.”
He added: “It was the first time our message broke through to the world. Human rights networks went into action. Senators, Congressmen and Parliamentarians came to our side.
“And this happened when one man was willing to risk his life to document up close what was happening and smuggled the message out of our country.”
Indonesia had ruled the former Portuguese colony since invading in 1975.
After relaxation restrictions Stahl Stahl had travelled there in 1991.
The TV personality heard about a planned protest march to a cemetery after a memorial service for an independence supporter.
Speaking about the incident in 2016, Max told the BBC: “I was just getting my camera ready when there was a wall of sound, at least 10 seconds of uninterrupted gunfire. The soldiers who arrived fired point blank into a crowd of a couple of thousand young people.”
“I could easily see that it was only a matter of time before they came to me, and at that point I thought, well, I should move away from here.”
Despite, burying the footage in the graveyard, it was later smuggled out and broadcast around the world.
Since in his passing, tributes have poured in for the late star.
Taking to Twitter, journalist j Sophie McNeill penned: “Very sad to hear about the death of the legendary Max Stahl.
“There’s not many people you can point to and say their bravery help changed the course of a nation for the better, but Max is one of them. Vale Max, RIP. You were a legend.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
