Journalist and TV presenter Henry Kelly has died aged 78, his family has announced.
Kelly was a journalist who later pivoted to light entertainment, hosting TV gameshow Game For A Laugh and Going For Gold in the 1980s and 90s.
He also presented programmes on BBC Radio 4, LBC and Classic FM.
In a statement, Kelly's family said he "died peacefully" on Tuesday "after a period of ill health".
Comments
The heat is on,
the time is right,
time for you
for you to play your game,
people are coming
everyones trying
trying to be the best that they can
when they're going for, going for gold.
If memory serves me right...
RIP Henry 'now you're playing catch up!' Kelly
Yeah, Going for Gold was superb, and Henry came across as a very nice man
What C am I?
RIP
Really a fairly standard middle class one.
If you want to see a thick Irish accent, you might want to take a look at any of Pat Shortt's rural characters (admittedly overegged for comedy purposes) or, if you can find it, Niall Tóibín's one man stage performance where he makes fun of a range of Irish accents (including the mean Cavan bastards, who he famously described eating their dinner out of a table drawer).
That said, RTÉ fairly regularly broadcasts news or feature interviews with people with really strong regional accents, there's a famous one of a Kerry farmer from a few years ago (there's actually a discussion about different accents here:
https://www.rte.ie/radio/lifestyle/living/2023/0803/1398062-the-diversity-of-irish-accents-on-today-with-philip-boucher-hayes/).
That said, RIP Henry.
I was nearly on the show in 94
Had auditioned and was asked if I was willing to be on standby, to go up to Manchester for filming if ever needed, over the month of filming
I was living in Euston at time, and had just walked my girlfriend to the station and they phoned my flat whilst I was out (only gone for 15 minutes) No mobile phone back then. One of my flatmates took a message, but by the time I got back to them, they had already got someone else to commit to going up there the next day
Always remember a few of my workmates meeting dad a few years ago and thinking he had a strong Irish accent, but when he goes home his family all think he talks like a Brit!! 🫣
Remember watching Game for a Laugh when I was younger, but had stated work when Going for Gold began so only rarely got to see that mad show. Henry always came across as a really nice fella. Rest in Peace Henry.
But as accents from Ireland go, our Henry’s was a mere lilt. A proper RTÉ accent.
I loved him in Game for a Laugh & Going for Gold, the latter being so bad it was iconic & a must watch for us in our late teens.
RIP Mr Kelly, you entertainer 💚
Reading an obituary, I hadn't realised that he had been a serious political journalist before Game for a Laugh, an expert on the Northern Ireland conflict.