BBC arts broadcaster and documentary-maker Alan Yentob has died aged 78.
A statement from the presenter’s family, released by the BBC, said he died on May 24.
Yentob interviewed the likes of David Bowie, Charles Saatchi, Maya Angelou and Grayson Perry for TV series such as Omnibus, Arena and Imagine during his long-serving career at the broadcaster.
His wife, Philippa Walker, described him as ‘curious, funny, annoying, late and creative in every cell of his body’, adding that he was ‘the kindest of men’.
She said: ‘For Jacob, Bella and I every day with Alan held the promise of something unexpected. Our life was exciting, he was exciting.
‘He was curious, funny, annoying, late and creative in every cell of his body. But more than that, he was the kindest of men and a profoundly moral man. He leaves in his wake a trail of love a mile wide.’
He joined the BBC in 1968 as a trainee at the World Service where he worked his way through the ranks to become the corporation’s head of music and arts in 1985.
During his tenure at BBC2, Yentob was credited with the commissions of shows like Absolutely Fabulous and Have I Got News For You, which later moved to BBC One.
He also launched CBBC and CBeebies.
In 1993 he became the official controller of BBC1. His drama commissions ranged from Middlemarch and Pride And Prejudice – which made actor Colin Firth a heartthrob – to Ballykissangel, while wielding an axe to the failing Spain-set soap Eldorado.
He also presented shows for the BBC, including a series on the life of artist Leonardo da Vinci, starring Sir Mark Rylance, and a regular arts series, Imagine, from 2003.
The broadcaster was appointed creative director, to oversee the BBC’s creative strategy, in 2004 and he also served as chairman of the board of trustees for Kids Company, founded by Camila Batmanghelidjh, from 2003 until the collapse of the charity in 2015.
In a BBC Two programme in 2024 he spoke to author Sir Salman Rushdie about the devastating effects of the onstage knife attack that left him blind in one eye.
He was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters from De Montfort University, Leicester, in 2005 and in 2024 he was formally made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by the King for services to the arts and media.
Yentob was married to TV producer Philippa Walker and the couple had two children together.
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