Terry Wogan

Sir
Terry Wogan
KBE DL
Wogan at the Cheltenham Literature Festival in 2015
Born
Michael Terence Wogan

(1938-08-03)3 August 1938
Limerick, Ireland
Died31 January 2016(2016-01-31) (aged 77)
Taplow, Buckinghamshire, England
Citizenship
  • Ireland
  • United Kingdom (from 2005)
Years active1956–2015
EmployerBBC
Known forTelevision presenting:
Radio presenting:
Spouse
Helen Joyce
​
(m. 1965)​
Children4
Terry Wogan's voice
Recorded January 2012 from the BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs
Websiteterrywogan.com

Sir Michael Terence Wogan KBE DL (/ˈwoʊɡən/; 3 August 1938 – 31 January 2016) was an Irish-British radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in the UK for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in December 2009, his BBC Radio 2 weekday breakfast programme Wake Up to Wogan regularly drew an estimated eight million listeners. He was believed to be the most listened-to radio broadcaster in Europe.[1]

Wogan was a leading media personality in Ireland and Britain from the late 1960s, and was often referred to as a "national treasure".[1] In addition to his weekday radio show, he was known for his work on television, including the BBC1 chat show Wogan, presenting Children in Need, the game show Blankety Blank and Come Dancing. He was the BBC's commentator for the Eurovision Song Contest from 1971 to 2008 (radio: 1971, 1974–1977; television: 1973, 1978, 1980–2008) and the Contest's co-host in 1998.[2] From 2010 to 2015 he presented Weekend Wogan, a two-hour Sunday morning show on Radio 2.[3][4]

In 2005, Wogan acquired British citizenship in addition to his Irish nationality and was awarded a knighthood in the same year and was therefore entitled to use the title "Sir".[5][6] He died on 31 January 2016, aged 77.

  1. ^ a b "Wogan's run – the King of banter finally goes blankety blank", by Kim Bielenberg, Irish Independent, 12 September 2009
  2. ^ "BBC – Eurovision Song Contest, 1998, Grand Final: 1998". BBC. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  3. ^ Chaundy, Bob (9 March 2007). "Faces of the week". BBC News. Archived from the original on 12 April 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  4. ^ "Terry Wogan to leave breakfast show". BBC News. 7 September 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  5. ^ "The Irish stars UK TV wouldn't be the same without". Radio Times. 17 March 2015. Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  6. ^ "Radio's Wogan becomes Sir Terry". BBC News. 17 June 2005. Archived from the original on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2015.