Going For Gold presenter Henry Kelly has died aged 78, his family has said.
The Dublin-born writer and broadcaster died “peacefully” on Tuesday “after a period of ill health”.
“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,” they added in a statement.
Kelly began his career in journalism in the 1960s while in Dublin – radio and TV presenting gigs followed from the 1970s when he moved to England.
While at University College Dublin, he wrote theatre reviews for The Irish Times, graduating with an English degree in 1968.
He went on to become the newspaper’s northern editor, based in Belfast in the 1970s – where he covered the height of The Troubles.
Kelly joined BBC Radio 4 current affairs programme The World Tonight as a reporter and presenter when he moved to London in 1976.
He was a presenter on the ITV entertainment show Game For A Laugh from 1981 – and went on to host BBC One game show Going For Gold for 10 seasons from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s.
Game For A Laugh’s 1980s presenters (L-R) Matthew Kelly, Sarah Kennedy, Henry Kelly and Jeremy Beadle. Pic: ITV/Shutterstock
The original show saw people from different countries competing against each other for a cash prize through answering questions. The show’s theme tune was composed by future multi-award winning composer Hans Zimmer.
The show was revived by Channel 5, featuring contestants from the UK and Ireland only, with newsreader John Suchet at the helm.
Kelly (left), with Anneka Rice and Nick Owen at a BAFTA party to celebrate the 20th anniversary of TV-am in 2003. Pic: PA
Kelly also appeared in Victoria Wood sitcom Dinnerladies, had a stint on morning programme TV-am, and talk show After Dark.
He was a founding presenter on Classic FM where he hosted a daily breakfast show from 1992 to 2003 – and won a Sony Radio Award in 1994 when he was voted national broadcaster of the year.
His later radio career saw him have the Henry Kelly Show on LBC for a while, as well as present on BBC Radio Berkshire from 2005 to 2015.
He also wrote books including the 1972 work How Stormont Fell, about the events which hit the Northern Irish parliament, and he co-authored the 1990s collection Classic FM Musical Anecdotes, Notes And Quotes with John Foley.