Dame Esther Rantzen, who presented BBC show That's Life! for 21 years and launched the charity Childline, has died at the age of 86. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the veteran broadcaster and campaigner had "changed countless lives". Dame Esther hosted and produced That's Life! during its run from 1973 to 1994.
It regularly attracted 20 million viewers for its mixture of serious consumer investigations and light-hearted items. She launched Childline, a British counselling service for children and young people, in 1986, and in 2013 she launched Silver Line to help elderly people suffering from isolation and loneliness. Later in life, she became a prominent campaigner for the legalisation of assisted dying.
She had been terminally ill with lung cancer. In December 2023, she revealed she had joined Dignitas, the Swiss assisted dying clinic. But in a statement given to the Press Association earlier this month, she said that despite having "spent the money and made the plans" to go to Dignitas, she had since reached the point where she was "too physically fragile to make the journey".
She added that the law must "change and change quickly", as she renewed her plea ahead of the latest debate and vote on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which failed to pass through the Commons. Dame Esther Rantzen: That's Life! presenter, Childline founder and campaigner for assisted dying The broadcaster revealed her cancer diagnosis in January 2023, saying the news had prompted her to express "profound thanks to everyone who has made my life so joyful". In a statement announcing her death on Wednesday, Dame Esther's family paid tribute to the "most wonderful mother" and "cherished grandmother" whose compassion would live on through her charities.
"We hope the humour, ingenuity and audacity she brought to her work may continue to inspire you as it will do us." Rantzen joined BBC radio as a sound effects assistant before becoming a TV researcher, and in 1968 she trained as a producer and director. The young broadcaster became a researcher and reporter for Bernard Braden's consumer affairs programme, Braden's Week. When That's Life! launched in 1973, she was its figurehead and became a popular fixture on screens as the show's formidable and fun-loving presenter and producer.
The consumer show's notable items, according to her website, external, included "talking dogs, Jobsworth Awards and campaigns on behalf of abused children, organ transplants, safe playgrounds, and to provide justice for consumers". Its most-viewed episode featured Sir Nicholas Winton being introduced for the first time to survivors he had saved from the Holocaust, during a 1988 instalment of the show. Later in her career, she also appeared on Strictly Come Dancing, First Dates and I'm a Celebrity...
Extract — continue reading at the source.
