Iconic TV presenter Henry Kelly has died at the age of 78, his family has confirmed.
He famously hosted shows such as the BBC’s Going for Gold and ITV’s Game for a Laugh. He presented Game for a Laugh on ITV from 1981 until 193 and then Going for Gold on BBC One for 10 seasons from 1987 until 1996.
Kelly’s family said the star “died “peacefully” on Tuesday (February 25) “after a period of ill health”. Their statement said: “Henry will be sorely missed by his friends and family, including his partner Karolyn Shindler, their son Alexander, Henry’s daughter Siobhan and her mother Marjorie.”
The veteran TV star started out as a journalist at The Irish Times before becoming Northern Editor in 1970. The role was based in Belfast, Northern Ireland at the start of The Troubles, and he held it for five years before moving to London to work as a reporter for the BBC’s Radio 4 programme, The World Tonight.
(Image: Getty Images)
He decided to leave journalism for a career in TV and landed a job as the presenter of ITV’s Game of a Laugh in 1981 and became a household name. The light entertainment show featured a variety of games and practical jokes that saw members of the public pranked or punished in comical ways.
The show’s famous games included the Dunk Tank, where the victim would be dunked into a tank of water, and Pie Chair, where you’d get a pie in the face for getting a question wrong. Each segment would end with Kelly announcing that the player had proved to be “game for a laugh”.
(Image: Mirrorpix)
In 1983, he joined ITV’s TV-am, where he hosted the Saturday edition of Good Morning Britain with Toni Arthur. He filled in for Michael Parkinson when he was in Australia and regularly stepped in to host the show on weekdays before leaving TV-am in 1987, the same year he started presenting Going for Gold.
Kelly would also be seen reviewing the Sunday morning newspapers on Sky News on occasion. In 2000, he appeared as a quiz show host in the final two episodes of Victoria Wood’s beloved BBC sitcom dinnerladies.
In 1992, he was one of the first presenters on Classic FM, where he presented the weekday mid-morning show from 9am until noon. He moved to the Breakfast Show before he was replaced by Simon Bates in 2003, but returned from 2006 until 2008 to host a Sunday morning show.
He also presented on LBC and in 2005 presented the late show on BBC Radio London. His last radio stint was on BBC Radio Berkshire, where he presented a Saturday mid-morning show until 2015.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
