World | UK
BBC veteran Wheeler dies at age 85
The BBC's longest-serving foreign correspondent, Charles Wheeler, has died after a 60-year career during which he covered Watergate, Vietnam and the Iraq war, the BBC said on Fiday. He was 85.
- Agencies
- Published: 23:40 July 4, 2008
- Born in Bremen, Germany in 1923, Wheeler was educated at Cranbrook School in Kent
- Image Credit: AP
London: The BBC's longest-serving foreign correspondent, Charles Wheeler, has died after a 60-year career during which he covered Watergate, Vietnam and the Iraq war, the BBC said on Fiday. He was 85.
He witnessed some of the biggest events of the post-war period, including the 1956 Hungary uprising, the rise and fall of Richard Nixon and the assassination of Martin Luther King.
Colleagues described him as the greatest journalist of his generation and paid tribute to his bravery and humility.
"To audiences and to his colleagues alike, Charles Wheeler was simply a legend," said BBC Director General Mark Thompson. "His integrity, his authority and his humanity graced the BBC's airwaves over many decades. He is utterly irreplaceable."
Head of BBC Journalism Mark Byford said Wheeler was seen as the "pinnacle of our profession".
"His death is a huge loss but his legacy will last forever," he said.
Born in Bremen, Germany in 1923, Wheeler was educated at Cranbrook School in Kent and started his career in journalism as a copy boy on the Daily Sketch newspaper in 1939.
A fluent German speaker, he joined the Royal Marines at the outbreak of the Second World War and served under cover in Europe.
After the war, he joined the BBC World Service and worked as a correspondent in Spain and Germany. After spells in India and Berlin, he became the BBC's Washington correspondent.
During his 20 years in the United States, he covered five presidential elections, as well as the Vietnam war and the civil rights movement.
He twice won the Royal Television Society of the Year award as well as two Baftas and a string of other prizes. He was knighted in 2006.
Despite his success, Wheeler, who was married with two daughters, said he had never got used to broadcasting.
"I would drink a large glass of whisky before going into the studio just to stop myself shaking," he said in an interview with Broadcast magazine in 2006. "To this day, I hate doing pieces to camera. I feel terribly uncomfortable. It seems unreal to be talking to a piece of glass.
Share this article
UK
Tough love moulds young minds best
Wanted man sends in replacement photo
Two British ticketholders share £90m jackpot
Mum dies trying to save son from blaze
Meeting the Queen with pen tucked behind ear!
Brown under fire over Afghanistan policies
Politician could get time in prison after admitting expenses scam
Call for scientific advisers to be free from interference
More from World
News Editor's choice
-
Ajtebi's phenomenal assent
The former camel jockey was at the peak of his powers when upstaging Garret Gomez
-
US pushing for more aid to Philippines
Obama administration eyeing $667m security assistance package
-
Mohammad launches H1N1 campaign
Shaikh Mohammad was the first one to receive the H1N1 vaccine.
