Newsreader Kenneth Kendall has died at the age of 88, his agent said yesterday
The presenter, who was born in India of Cornish parents and retained close links with the Duchy, was known to many for his role in Channel 4 show Treasure Hunt.
He died in hospital in Newport on the Isle of Wight yesterday. His agent, Jeremy Hicks, said he had suffered a stroke in recent weeks and never recovered.
Kendall's partner of many years, Mark Fear, said he passed away peacefully.
The couple owned an art gallery on the island after Mr Kendall retired from television. Mr Kendall had also owned a gallery at Trelowarren, near Helston.
Mr Kendall started work at the BBC as a radio announcer before moving on to television in the 1950s, where he became well known as a newsreader and a mainstay of the organisation until he left in 1981.
He joined Treasure Hunt a year later and the show, which featured Anneka Rice scouring the country for clues in a helicopter, become a huge hit for the fledgling channel.
He returned to the BBC in 2010 to appear in a show called The Young Ones which featured six celebrities examining the problems of ageing.
Wincey Willis, who also appeared on Treasure Hunt with Kendall, said he was a ''lovely man". Writing on Twitter, she said he was "very kind to me when I started Treasure Hunt we were good friends. He was funny and we both loved dogs RIP".
Acting BBC director-general Tim Davie said: ''As the first British newsreader ever to appear on our TV screens in 1955, the passing of Kenneth Kendall is a sad moment in broadcasting history. Kenneth will be remembered for his long and successful career in both radio and later TV and, of course, for his much remarked-upon elegant sense of style.
A former officer in the Guards, Mr Kendall was related to the Kendalls of Pelyn, Lostwithiel, and for a time lived at St Martin, near Helston.
