Sir Bruce Forsyth dies aged 89

Bruce Forsyth, who first appeared on television in 1939, has died at the age of 89. He was suffering from bronchial pneumonia.

His manager said he was "at his home surrounded by his wife Wilnelia and all his children" when he passed away peacefully this afternoon.

BBC director general Sir Tony Hall described Forsyth, who presented Strictly Come Dancing until 2014, as "one of the greatest entertainers our country has ever known" and said the whole country would "miss him dearly".

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"His warmth and his wit were legendary," Hall said. "I've never seen anyone quite like him when it comes to performing in front of a crowd.

His first TV appearance was at the age of 11 on the early BBC programme Come and be Televised, but he "came to national attention in the mid-1950s through the television series Sunday Night at the London Palladium", The Guardian reports. "He went on to host a number of game shows, including the Generation Game, Play Your Cards Right, The Price Is Right and You Bet!"

The Daily Telegraph says he was one of the most "talented, versatile and popular" entertainers of his generation. "With his witty asides, his cheeky smile and his displays of mock outrage," the paper says, "Sir Bruce topped the bill wherever he went for well over half a century."