Going For Gold and Game For A Laugh host Henry Kelly dies aged 78

Henry Kelly (Ian West/PA)

Former Going For Gold and Game For A Laugh host 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 17 1946, Kelly began his career at the broadsheet newspaper 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.

Entertainer Henry Kelly. (Andrew Stuart/PA)

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, which featured a theme tune from Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer, 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 the morning programme TV-am, and talk show After Dark.

TV presenter Henry Kelly (William Conran/PA)

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.

In 2022, Kelly along with RTÉ and TV3 current affairs presenter Vincent Browne was asked by a Belfast coroner to give evidence at the inquest of barman John Moran, who was killed in a loyalist bomb attack in 1972.

A hearing, at Belfast Coroner’s Court, heard that Kelly’s partner had indicated he has no recollection of the incident and is unable to assist.

Last year, the court said it had been unable to conclude the inquest by a deadline.