Travel broadcaster Alan Whicker dies at 87

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Published December 10, 2015

Presenter Alan Wicker poses with his CBE after receiving the honour at Buckingham Palace on March 22, 2005. The travel broadcaster, the consummate gentleman abroad during more than six decades on television, has died, aged 87. (POOL/AFP/File)

British travel broadcaster Alan Whicker, the consummate gentleman abroad during more than six decades on television, died on Friday aged 87, his spokeswoman said.

Known for his distinctively neat moustache and thick-rimmed glasses, Whicker died at his home on the Channel island of Jersey after suffering from bronchial pneumonia, said the spokeswoman.

The highlight of his career was the globetrotting television series "Whicker's World" in which he reported from foreign countries and interviewed high-profile figures including Haitian dictator "Papa Doc" Duvalier.

Born in Cairo, Egypt, in 1925, Whicker served in World War II with the British army film and photo unit in Italy and became a journalist and broadcaster after the conflict.

As a newspaper correspondent during the 1950-1953 Korean War he was mistakenly reported as having been killed -- the error only coming to light after he cabled his office saying: "Unkilled, uninjured, onpressing."

He joined the BBC in 1957 and was a reporter before "Whicker's World" started in 1959. The series ran until 1988, moving to independent broadcasters before returning to the BBC.

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