Veteran British broadcaster Dame Esther Rantzen, best known for presenting the BBC television programme That’s Life! and founding the Childline charity, has died at the age of 86.
Rantzen hosted and produced That’s Life! for 21 years, from 1973 to 1994, with the programme combining consumer investigations, campaigns and lighter features.
It regularly attracted audiences of about 20 million viewers.
She founded Childline, a counselling service for children and young people in the United Kingdom, in 1986, and later established the Silver Line in 2013 to support older people experiencing loneliness and isolation.
Rantzen was also a prominent campaigner for the legalisation of assisted dying after being diagnosed with lung cancer in 2023.
She disclosed in December of that year that she had joined Dignitas, the Swiss assisted dying clinic.
However, earlier this month, she said she had become “too physically fragile” to travel to the clinic, despite having “spent the money and made the plans” to do so.
Rantzen subsequently renewed her call for a change in the law, saying it must “change and change quickly”, ahead of the latest debate and vote on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which failed to pass through the House of Commons.
Her family, in a statement announcing her death on Wednesday, described her as the “most wonderful mother” and a “cherished grandmother”, while saying her compassion would continue through the charities she established.
“We hope the humour, ingenuity and audacity she brought to her work may continue to inspire you as it will do us.”
Rantzen began her broadcasting career at the BBC as a sound effects assistant before becoming a television researcher.
She trained as a producer and director in 1968 and later worked as a researcher and reporter on Bernard Braden’s consumer affairs programme, Braden’s Week.
When That’s Life! debuted in 1973, she became its central presenter and producer, establishing herself as a prominent figure on British television.
One of the programme’s most memorable moments came in 1988 when it reunited Sir Nicholas Winton with Holocaust survivors he had helped save during the Second World War.
Rantzen later appeared on programmes including Strictly Come Dancing, First Dates and I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!.
She was married to documentary filmmaker Desmond Wilcox from 1977 until his death in 2000, and they had three children.
She was made a dame in 2015 for her services to children and older people.
Tributes poured in following her death, with Prime Minister Andy Burnham describing her as someone who had “changed countless lives”.
He said he would “always admire the characteristic courage and openness with which she spoke about her illness, making us all think about the difficult questions we face at the end of life”.
BBC director-general Matt Brittin described her as a “legend of British broadcasting”, saying her contribution to public life was “immeasurable”.
“Her warmth, spirit and fight for justice and action that we saw on our screens continued long after the programme ended, with a lifetime of campaigning where she changed the lives of millions,” he said.
Fellow broadcaster Martin Lewis called Rantzen an “inspiration” and a “pioneer”, while Labour MP Kim Leadbeater described her as a “wonderful mix of strength and feistiness, but also really deep compassion and kindness”.
Rantzen’s That’s Life! co-presenter Bill Buckley also paid tribute, saying “nothing would stop her” when she was campaigning.
“She saw the light at the end of the tunnel and followed it doggedly,” he said.
