Legendary News Broadcaster Harry Gration Dies ‘Suddenly’

Longtime news anchor for the BBC Harry Gration passed away on Friday, June 24 at the age of 71. According to The BBC Gration died “suddenly,” but other than that the circumstances of his passing have not been made public. Fans and colleagues are mourning Gration on social media.

Gration was the presenter of BBC Yorkshire’s Look North series from 1982 until October of 2020 when he retired. He was lauded for his journalistic standards and his on-screen charisma throughout the decades and was even given a handful of awards for his work. He was beloved by the public and his colleagues. One viral video even shows a younger journalist breaking into tears as she delivers the news of Gration’s death on the air on Friday.

Gration is survived by his wife, Helen Gration, who told The BBC: “He will forever be with us. Our three boys and I loved Harry totally. We had an awful lot of fun with him and our home was his life.”

Gration was hired by The BBC in 1978 and took over Look North in 1982. He was from Bradford, England, and he worked as a history teacher before getting into broadcast journalism in the mid-1970s. Gration’s commentary guided people through several rounds of the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games and other monumental sporting events.

Gration retired in October of 2020 at the age of 70. Reflecting on his career in journalism, he told The BBC that the news he covered “always affected me.” He believed that authenticity was an important part of success in journalism, saying that he “always lived the story” as he was covering it.

His colleagues agreed, including BBC Director-General Tim Davie who said: “Harry Gration MBE was an outstanding broadcaster and commentator. He had a real connection with the public who saw him as one of their own. Loved everywhere, but especially in Yorkshire, he will be hugely missed by his many fans and friends. Our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time.”

Acting Director of BBC England, Jason Horton, added that Gration was “one of the true broadcasting greats. He loved news, sport, his colleagues and fundraising for Children in Need and Comic Relief. Our thoughts are with his family, his friends and everyone across the BBC who he worked with.”

So far no public memorial for Gration has been announced. People from all walks of life in the U.K. continue to sing his praises on social media at the time of this writing.