British television host Bamber Gascoigne dies at 87

British TV presenter and author Bamber Gascoigne has died at the age of 87 following a short illness.

A statement by the opera said Gascoigne, best known as the original host of BBC’s University Challenge, died at his home in Richmond, the Grange Park Opera.

The 87-year-old famous host had been married to his wife Christina, a potter, for five years.

Gascoigne became a household name, presenting the show for 25 years as part of the everyday British lexicon.

He was famously parodied by Griff Rhys-Jones in alternative BBC two comedy “The Young Ones’’ in an episode entitled Bambi.

Upon leaving University Challenge, which has been hosted by Jeremy Paxman on the BBC since 1994, Gascoigne wrote several successful books, produced documentaries, and established an online history encyclopaedia called HistoryWorld.

In 2014, he inherited an estate in Surrey from his aunt and it is now used as the filming location for the hit BBC One comedy Ghosts.
(dpa/PA Media/NAN)