R.I.P.: Beloved BBC Presenter Terry Wogan

Terry Wogan's Final Broadcast

Sir Terry Wogan, renowned for his work on BBC Radio 2's breakfast show and Children In Need, has died of cancer at the age of 77.

A family statement, issued by the BBC, said: "Sir Terry Wogan died today after a short but brave battle with cancer. He passed away surrounded by his family.

Sir Terry had last appeared on the airwaves at the beginning of November, when he hosted a show for Radio 2, according SkyNews.

Fellow presenter Jeremy Vine shared this story about Sir Terry: "Someone asked him how many listeners he had. Instead of answering nine million, which would have been accurate, he said: 'Only one.'

"And it was this approach that made him one of the greatest broadcasters this country has ever seen."
His Radio 2 breakfast show, with his velvet voice and his wry, rambling thoughts on life, achieved the UK's biggest and most loyal audience.

Sir Terry, on hearing his audience in 2005 had passed the eight million mark, said: "Hang on: there's 60 million people in the country - what are the other 52 million listening to?".

He also once said: "Go out and face the world secure in the knowledge that everybody else thinks they are better looking than they are as well" and also said: "My opinion has the weight of a ton of feathers."

Sir Terry, whose weekday Radio 2 breakfast show ended in 2009, was no less popular on television and had hosted a hugely successful chat show from 1982-1992.


Sir Terry was born in Limerick and first headed into the world of banking after leaving college in 1956 but, after answering an advertisement, joined RTE where he worked as a newsreader and announcer.