David Frost has died

[SiHart]

Hugely influential TV broadcaster David Frost has died.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-23920336

Veteran broadcaster Sir David Frost has died at the age of 74 after a suspected heart attack while on board a cruise ship.

A family statement said he had been giving a speech aboard the Queen Elizabeth on Saturday night.

Sir David's career spanned journalism, comedy writing and daytime television presenting, including The Frost Report.

Internationally, he will be remembered for his revealing interviews with former US President Richard Nixon.

A statement said: "His family are devastated and ask for privacy at this difficult time. A family funeral will be held in the near future and details of a memorial service will be announced in due course."

The BBC's Barney Jones, who edited his Breakfast with Frost programme on the BBC for more than 10 years, said: "David loved broadcasting, did it brilliantly for more than 50 years and was eagerly looking forward to a host of projects - including interviewing the prime minister next week - before his sudden and tragic death. We will all miss him enormously."

Prime Minister David Cameron said: "My heart goes out to David Frost's family. He could be - and certainly was with me - both a friend and a fearsome interviewer."

Born in Kent, Sir David studied at Cambridge University where he became secretary of the Footlights club, and met future comedy greats such as Peter Cook, Graham Chapman and John Bird.

After university he went to work at ITV before he was asked to front the BBC programme That Was The Week That Was, which ran between 1962 and 1963.

Casting a satirical eye over the week's news, the show boasted scriptwriters including John Cleese, John Betjeman and Dennis Potter.

The Frost Report brought together John Cleese, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett in a sketch show which would influence many comedy writers including the Monty Python Crew.

Sir David's often-mimicked catchphrase "hello, good evening and welcome" was by now in full use.

One of The Frost Report's most enduring pieces was the "class sketch", featuring Cleese, Barker and Corbett.

[Rob McCow]

RIP David Frost.

As ways to go, heart attack on a cruise ship at 74 can't be all that bad.

[Jon Masters]

Maybe the people listening to the speech just thought it was one of his really........reallly....................long..... .................................................. ..pauses.

[Andrew Curnow]

I'm sure we'll see & hear lots of his work over the next few weeks & months, and I guess unless you're old enough to remember TW3 (which I'm not!!) David Frost appeared to be really quite an establishment figure, as opposed to, presumably, a bit cutting-edge, a bit controversial, a bit rebellious in TV terms when he started.

He always struck me as, a bit like Jon Pertwee perhaps, the sort of guy who really enjoyed life and made sure to always be doing something new or interesting. Very sad, but 74 not too bad an age I guess. RIP David Frost.

[Nyder]

And there was me thinking 74 was quite young these days....

A hugely influential figure through the decades - he's certainly left his mark.

[Larry]

I'm sure we'll see & hear lots of his work over the next few weeks & months, .

I watched the Nixon/Frost film on BBC2 a few weeks ago and have t say it would make interesting viewing if the BBC were to show the original interview in it's entirety .