By JILL LAWLESS (Associated Press)
LONDON (AP) — Len Goodman, a long-serving choose on “Dancing with the Stars” and “Strictly Come Dancing” who helped revive curiosity in ballroom dancing on each side of the Atlantic, has died, his agent stated Monday. He was 78.
Agent Jackie Gill stated Goodman “passed away peacefully” on Saturday evening. He had been identified with bone most cancers.
A former skilled ballroom dancer and British champion, Goodman was head choose on “Strictly Come Dancing” for 12 years from its launch on the BBC in 2004. The dance competitors, which pairs celebrities with skilled dance companions, was a shock hit and has turn into one of many community’s hottest reveals.
Goodman’s pithy observations, delivered in a Cockney accent, endeared him to viewers. “You floated across that floor like butter on a crumpet,” he remarked after one foxtrot. He praised a salsa-dancing couple as “like two sizzling sausages on a barbecue.”
Goodman was head choose on the U.S. model of the present, ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars,” for 15 years till his retirement in November. For a number of years he judged the British and American reveals concurrently every autumn, criss-crossing the Atlantic weekly.
Buckingham Palace stated Camilla, the queen consort, was “saddened to hear” of Goodman’s dying. The spouse of King Charles III is a fan of “Strictly,” and danced with Goodman at a 2019 occasion celebrating the British Dance Council.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesman stated Goodman was “a great entertainer” who can be “missed by many.”
British broadcaster Esther Rantzen stated Goodman had been “astonished and delighted” by his late-life fame.
“One of the reasons he succeeded so well in the States is that he was quintessentially British,” she stated. “He was firm but fair, funny but a gentleman and I hope the nation will adopt his favorite expostulation of ‘pickle me walnuts.’”
Goodman additionally introduced BBC radio applications and made TV documentaries, together with a 2012 program in regards to the sinking of the Titanic. As a younger man, Goodman had labored as a shipyard welder for the corporate that constructed the doomed ship.
BBC director-general Tim Davie stated Goodman was “a wonderful, warm entertainer who was adored by millions. He appealed to all ages and felt like a member of everyone’s family. Len was at the very heart of Strictly’s success. He will be hugely missed by the public and his many friends and family.”
Goodman was additionally a recipient of the Carl Alan Award in recognition of excellent contributions to bop, and owned the Goodman Academy dance college in southern England.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”