Alan Whicker, one of the most widely travelled and popular broadcasters of his generation, has died at the age of 87. He died at home in Jersey in the early hours of Friday after suffering from bronchial pneumonia.
Whicker had been with his partner, Valerie Kleeman, for more than 40 years. He presented his most famous series, Whicker's World, between 1959 and 1990, bringing a glimpse of the lifestyles of the rich and famous into British homes. In 2009, he returned to some of the locations and people who featured over the years for a BBC series, Alan Whicker's Journey Of A Lifetime.
His distinctive voice and delivery led to his regularly being parodied by, among others, the Monty Python team. A jokey rap delivered Whicker-style, called Wikka Wrap, even made the top 20 in 1981. He once entered a Whicker soundalike contest and managed to finish in third place.
Whicker, who was born in Egypt, had been a war correspondent and, during his own service in the second word war, was among the first group of allied forces to enter Milan. He filmed footage of the body of Mussolini.
After the war, he was a correspondent in the Korean war, during which he was mistakenly reported to have been killed. In a telegraph to reassure people he was still alive he wrote: "Unkilled. Uninjured. Onpressing."
After joining the BBC in 1957 he became a reporter for the Tonight programme and within a couple of years had launched Whicker's World. He interviewed figures such as Joan Collins, Peter Sellers, the Sultan of Brunei and the Haitian president, Papa Doc Duvalier.
He was also an early shareholder in the ITV regional station Yorkshire Television, which produced Whicker's World for many years.
Whicker was awarded a CBE for his services to broadcasting eight years ago and honoured with the Richard Dimbleby Award at the Baftas in 1978 for his contribution to broadcasting. Monty Python star Michael Palin has called Whicker "a great character, a great traveller and an excellent reporter.