Legendary Newscaster Sandy Gall Has Died

Legendary broadcaster and journalist Sandy Gall, who fronted ITV’s News At Ten for more than two decades, has died.

Gall passed away at his home in Kent on Sunday at the age of 97, his family confirmed. A cause of death was not disclosed.

“His was a great life, generously and courageously lived,” Gall’s family said in remembrance of the veteran journalist, per ITV News.

Throughout his 50-year journalism career, Gall covered major world events such as the assassination US President John F. Kennedy, the Vietnam War, the Lockerbie disaster, and the civil rights movement, during which he interviewed Martin Luther King in 1965, among others. He got his start in 1952 as a reporter for the Aberdeen Press and Journal before later joining Reuters as a foreign correspondent. But it was his time at ITN, which he joined in 1963, that cemented his status as a household name and a familiar face throughout the country.

After first joining the organization as a foreign correspondent, he went on to co-present News At Ten beginning in 1970. At the time, the program was the UK’s most watched news program. He continued to host the popular show through 1991, and continued to work at ITN as a special reporter until his retirement in 1992.

“I think Sandy Gall was one of the most brilliant journalists out there. And, around his work, ITN was able to build an enormous reputation,” former News At Ten presenter Sir Trevor McDonald said of Gall, according to The Standard. “He travelled the world, he covered wars, he covered political upheavals, and what he said, people believed. He gave ITN and News At Ten its credibility. When Sandy Gall said something, everyone believed it.”

News At Ten lead anchor Tom Bradby remembered Gall as “a giant and a gentleman of our business” who was loved by everyone. Bradby added that he “was one of many young would-be reporters he inspired. His old-world charm and on-screen presence endeared him to so many viewers and so many of us.”

Gall was made a CBE in 1987 and awarded a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 2011.

After retiring in 1992, he founded Sandy Gall’s Afghanistan Appeal, a charity for disabled Afghans that helped war-related casualties, as well as children in refugee camps. He served as the charity’s chairman for nearly 40 years.

He is survived by his son and three daughters, whom he shared with his late wife Eleanor.