Alan Coren has died

[SiHart]

Alan Coren has died

Humorist and broadcaster Alan Coren has died aged 69 after suffering from cancer, the BBC has announced.
Coren was a regular panellist on BBC Radio 4's satirical show The News Quiz, and also appeared as a team captain on TV programme Call My Bluff.
He edited Punch magazine, wrote several books, and was known most recently for his column in The Times newspaper, which he started in 1989.

Mark Damazer, controller of Radio 4, said his death was a "terrible loss".
He added: "Alan was the heartbeat of The News Quiz - the man around whom so much turned for nearly 30 years.
"It was not only that he was consistently brilliantly funny, but above and beyond that, his humour burst with humanity and warmth," he said.
"He could pick out the foibles of the mighty - and his own - with pinpoint accuracy, and yet at the same time he evoked sympathy for the human condition."

Mr Damazer went on: "He was fabulously well-read - and there was no subject which was ever beyond his wit."
Journalist Francis Wheen, who appeared on The News Quiz with Coren, said he was shocked about his death.
"It is very, very sad, and it has been quite sudden... he was diagnosed with cancer and declined quite quickly," Mr Wheen told BBC News 24.
"It is a great loss because he was the only original surviving member of The News Quiz.
"He had been doing it for more than a quarter of a century, and it is hard to imagine the programme without him."
Comic Jeremy Hardy, who also featured on The News Quiz, described Coren as a "generous" performer.

"He would have a flight of fancy and he never really knew where it was going, but it would always go somewhere brilliant and it would always end with a big laugh.
"He never prepared anything. He used get irritable with those of us who were comics who had jokes prepared. He thought that was bad form and that we should just all wing it in the moment
"When I first came on the show he was a bit appalled that I was clearly a comic and clearly had gags, but we became very fond of each other over the years."

Coren leaves a wife and two grown-up children - Giles and Vicky - who are both successful broadcasters and journalists

Very sad news. i remember him being very witty and clever on the revived Call my Bluff against Sandi Toksvig.

Si xx

[Antony Cox]

Sad news.

A very funny man, one of the old school who survived and indeed flourished amongst the new generation of comedians.

RIP Alan.

[Dirk Gently]

Oh that's sad news. I too remember him from Call My Bluff where he more than not won. He was a very funny & intelligent man who always appeared to be happy & humorous. I also know of Victoria Coren, she has done some presenting & also appeared on TV poker.

R.I.P Alan.

[Carol Baynes]

A sad loss. A very witty and engaging broadcaster. It's not all that long since he was on "Call my bluff" was it?

[Captain Tancredi]

I've a few memories of finding some of his radio appearances hilarious. He also deserves a lot of credit for contributing DNA to Victoria Coren, who's brightened up several evenings here.

[Dave Lewis]

A very clever and funny man - rest in peace, Alan.

[Dave Tudor]

Very, very sad news. I've always regarded the term 'humorist' with some scepticism, as it is often applied to clever people who are not actually very funny. But Alan Coren was both - clever and genuinely funny. I was always a big admirer of him, and his appearances on 'Call My Bluff' were a joy - he only had to open his mouth and you knew that something daft, but hilarious was goinmg to come out. The few columns of his read were always very entertaining, too.

In addition to his intelligence and his wit, he was also apparently hugely enthusiastic about 'Doctor Who', and yes, he gave the world the lovely Victoria Coren.

Rest in peace, Alan - you will be missed.