Legendary ITV broadcaster Roger Cook has died at the age of 83, his family has announced.
A statement issued on Monday (15 June) read: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Roger Cook, who died peacefully on Saturday after a short illness.
“Alongside a distinguished and award-winning career in journalism, Roger was first and foremost a beloved husband and father. He will be deeply missed by all of us, and we ask for privacy as we navigate this difficult loss.”
The New Zealand-born TV star hosted current affairs programme The Cook Report for 12 years, and won a Bafta special award for the show in 1997.
ITV said in a statement that Cook “worked tirelessly to expose criminal wrongdoing and injustice, helping to drive important and lasting changes in the law”.
“His fearless contribution to journalism will long be remembered, and we send our deepest sympathies and condolences to his wife, family and friends at this difficult time,” it added.
Cook’s decades-spanning career began in the late 1960s when he moved to the UK and began working as a journalist for the BBC.
He created and began hosting the investigative Radio 4 programme Checkpoint, which specialised in exposing criminals and con-men, in 1973, before making the switch to television in 1984.
He then began fronting The Cook Report on ITV in 1987. The show ran for 16 series across 12 years, airing until 1999. In 2007, he revisited a number of his most well-known stories in a 90-minute special, Roger Cook’s Greatest Hits.
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