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| Broadcaster Alan Coren dies at 69 | Broadcaster Alan Coren dies at 69 |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| Humourist and broadcaster Alan Coren has died aged 69 after suffering from cancer, the BBC has announced. | Humourist and broadcaster Alan Coren has died aged 69 after suffering from cancer, the BBC has announced. |
| Coren was a regular panellist on BBC Radio 4's satirical show The News Quiz, and also appeared as a team captain on TV programme Call My Bluff. | Coren was a regular panellist on BBC Radio 4's satirical show The News Quiz, and also appeared as a team captain on TV programme Call My Bluff. |
| He edited Punch magazine, wrote several books, and was known most recently for his column in The Times newspaper, which he started in 1989. | He edited Punch magazine, wrote several books, and was known most recently for his column in The Times newspaper, which he started in 1989. |
| Mark Damazer, controller of Radio 4, said his death was a "terrible loss". | Mark Damazer, controller of Radio 4, said his death was a "terrible loss". |
| 'Brilliantly funny' | |
| He added: "Alan was the heartbeat of The News Quiz - the man around whom so much turned for nearly 30 years. | |
| "It was not only that he was consistently brilliantly funny, but above and beyond that, his humour burst with humanity and warmth," he said. | "It was not only that he was consistently brilliantly funny, but above and beyond that, his humour burst with humanity and warmth," he said. |
| "He could pick out the foibles of the mighty - and his own - with pinpoint accuracy, and yet at the same time he evoked sympathy for the human condition." | "He could pick out the foibles of the mighty - and his own - with pinpoint accuracy, and yet at the same time he evoked sympathy for the human condition." |
| It is hard to imagine the programme without him Francis Wheen, fellow panellist on The News Quiz | |
| Mr Damazer went on: "He was fabulously well-read - and there was no subject which was ever beyond his wit." | Mr Damazer went on: "He was fabulously well-read - and there was no subject which was ever beyond his wit." |
| Journalist Francis Wheen, who appeared on The News Quiz with Coren, said he was shocked about his death. | |
| "It is very, very sad, and it has been quite sudden... he was diagnosed with cancer and declined quite quickly," Mr Wheen told BBC News 24. | |
| "It is a great loss because he was the only original surviving member of The News Quiz. | |
| "He had been doing it for more than a quarter of a century, and it is hard to imagine the programme without him." | |
| Coren leaves a wife and two grown-up children. | Coren leaves a wife and two grown-up children. |