There’s more terribly sad news with Irish broadcasting legend Terry Wogan dying today, after a short illness with cancer. He was 77.
A native of Limerick, Wogan started his career with RTÉ, but was lured over to England in 1966 by the BBC, with whom he worked continually up until his death.
He was for many years the Beeb's voice of Eurovision, hosted the Blankety Blank quiz show from 1979-1983 and then had his own midweek TV chat show that was required post-supper family viewing.
In 1989, he invested in the fledgling Century Radio, and presented a weekend show on the station. However, that first independent national station bit the dust.
His career was in no way damaged by that failed flirtation. On the contrary, his career went from strength to strength in the UK. With a ten million-plus radio audience, his BBC Radio 2 morning slot became a Holy Grail for record pluggers, with David Gray, Katie Melua, Ron Sexsmith and the late Eva Cassidy among the acts that he enthusiastically championed.
He had, of course, infiltrated the charts himself in 1977 with a tongue-in-cheek version of ‘The Floral Dance’.
Alarm bells rang a few months ago when he was unable to fulfil his usual BBC Children In Need radiothon duties, but – like David Bowie – Terry opted to keep the seriousness of his health problems private.
"The one point I always made about Terry, and to Terry, was that he was born with a monster advantage over the rest of us, in that he was born with a sunny disposition,” his friend and former colleague Gay Byrne told Miriam O’Callaghan this morning. "He simply was optimistic and he was good-natured and he saw the fun in everything – and this is a huge gift to have. To a great extent the rest of us go through life looking at what’s wrong with the world, at what’s wrong with ourselves and at what’s wrong with other people and we tend to get grumpy and bad-tempered and so on. He saw fun in everything, he saw a joke in everything, and was just expecting the best, and the best usually happened.”
"His rise to the top of radio listenership in the United Kingdom was a great tribute to his breadth of knowledge and in particular his unique, very personal sense of humour,” says President Michael D. Higgins.
Adds Enda Kenny: “He graced the top of his broadcasting profession for decades as a reassuring voice on the BBC. As an Irishman, Terry Wogan occupied a special place in British listeners' hearts and he acted in no small way as a bridge between Ireland and Britain."
"He made it seem effortless and for a young boy in Ireland he made it seem possible,” messages Graham Norton. “RIP Sir Terry Wogan. I'll raise a glass during song 9."
"Terry Wogan was a busy man, but he kindly gave up a day to film some scenes for Moone Boy,” reflects Chris O’Dowd. “He brought and wore his own 80's mustard suit. I felt guilty as our day ran long, but when we finished, he still insisted on taking us all out for pizza. He was, and is, a class act.”
The quintessential broadcaster's broadcaster, he will be sorely missed.