Former Irish Times journalist and Going For Gold host Henry Kelly dies aged 78
By Charlotte McLaughlin, PA Senior Entertainment Reporter
Former Going For Gold and Game For A Laugh host and Irish Times journalist Henry Kelly has died aged 78.
The writer and broadcaster died “peacefully” on Tuesday “after a period of ill health”, his family said.
They said in a statement: “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.”
Born in Dublin on April 17th, 1946, Kelly began his career at The Irish Times.
He went on to become its northern editor, based in Belfast in the 1970s – where he covered the height of the Troubles.
In 1976, he moved to London and joined the long-running BBC Radio 4 current affairs programme, The World Tonight, as a reporter and presenter.
TV presenting gigs followed from the 1980s, including entertainment show Game for a Laugh on ITV from 1981.
He went on to host BBC 1 game show Going for Gold for 10 seasons from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s.
The original show saw people from different countries competing against each other for a cash prize through answering questions.
It was shortly revived by Channel 5 with newsreader John Suchet at the helm during the 2000s, with the European contestants absent from the revival.
Kelly also appeared in comedy show Dinnerladies, had a stint on morning programme TV-am, and talk show After Dark.
He was a founding presenter on the classical music radio station Classic FM where he has a daily breakfast programme from 1992 to 2003.
In 1994 he was voted national broadcaster of the year in the Sony Radio Awards.
His later radio career saw him work at local station BBC Radio Berkshire between 2005 and 2015.
