TV and radio stars we lost in 2016
- Published
In January, veteran broadcaster Sir Terry Wogan died at the age of 77 after a "short but brave battle with cancer". Sir Terry had a 50-year career on radio and television, including presenting Wake up to Wogan on BBC Radio 2, chat show Wogan and fronting the BBC's annual Children in Need appeal. He was the first of several well-known TV and radio figures we said goodbye to in 2016.
Ronnie Corbett, best known for BBC comedy sketch show The Two Ronnies, died in March aged 85. The entertainer had had ben in ill health for some time and had been in hospital in 2014 with gall bladder problems.
Magician Paul Daniels died in March aged 77, after being diagnosed with a brain tumour. He was at his Berkshire home with wife Debbie McGee when he died. Daniels presented a variety of game shows in the 1980s and 1990s, including Wipeout, Every Second Counts and Odd One Out and took over the primetime Saturday night slot with his own BBC show, which started in 1979.
Sylvia Anderson, best known as the voice of Lady Penelope in the TV show Thunderbirds, died in March after a short illness. Anderson also co-created the hit science-fiction puppet series, which ran from 1965, with her late husband Gerry.
Coronation Street creator Tony Warren died in March at the age of 79. William Roache, who has played Ken Barlow since the first episode, said Warren would be "so desperately missed". Warren started the soap when he was 24.
Cliff Michelmore, a familiar figure in BBC radio and TV broadcasting since the 1940s, died in March aged 96. He anchored coverage of events including the Apollo moon landings and two general elections, and interviewed figures including Prince Charles, Prime Minister Harold Wilson and a 17-year-old David Bowie.
In April, Victoria Wood died peacefully at her north London home after a short illness. At the time, her regular co-star Julie Walters described the loss as "incalculable". Wood found fame in the 1980s and was best known for her BBC sketch Acorn Antiques and comedy Dinnerladies.
In April, entertainer, producer and reality television star David Gest died in a London hotel at the age of 62. He was best known in the UK for his appearances on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! and Celebrity Big Brother.
Denise Robertson was known to many as the agony aunt on ITV's This Morning. She died in April aged 83, two months after revealing she had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Television writer Carla Lane, who created hit shows including The Liver Birds, Bread and Butterflies, died in a nursing home in Liverpool in May. She was 87.
Caroline Aherne was perhaps best known as her alter-ego Mrs Merton, who hosted her own BBC comedy series in the 1990s. But she also starred in The Royle Family and more recently narrated the Channel 4 series Gogglebox. She died in July at the age of 52, having had cancer.
Jean Alexander, who played Coronation Street's Hilda Ogden and Auntie Wainwright in Last of the Summer Wine, died in October at the age of 90. She appeared on the cobbles of Weatherfield between 1964 and 1987, playing one of the ITV soap's most well-loved characters.
Jimmy Perry, creator of one of TV's most popular comedy series, Dad's Army, died in October aged 93. Working with producer David Croft, he was also responsible for It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Hi-de-Hi and You Rang M'Lord?
Former BBC Radio 2 presenter Sir Jimmy Young died peacefully in November at the age of 95. Sir Jimmy spent more than three decades with the station and interviewed Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as a guest on his programme 14 times.
Actor Robert Vaughn, best known as the secret agent Napoleon Solo in The Man from UNCLE, died aged 83 in November after a battle with acute leukaemia. Vaughn was also famous for his role as Lee in the Magnificent Seven, and TV roles in Hustle and Coronation Street.
Actor Andrew Sachs, best known for his role as Spanish waiter Manuel in 1970s sitcom Fawlty Towers, died in December. He was diagnosed with dementia in 2012.
Liz Smith, best known for her role as the much-loved Nana in BBC sitcom The Royle Family, died at the age of 95. Her death on Christmas Eve came six months after Caroline Aherne, co-star and co-writer of The Royle Family, passed away.
- Published31 March 2016
- Published31 January 2016
