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\n Bill Oddie was known for his conservation work (Ian West\/PA) Ian West<\/p>\n
WILDLIFE PRESENTER AND Goodies star Bill Oddie has died at the age of 85, his agent has said.<\/p>\n
The TV star, who found fame in the 1970s as a member of comic trio The Goodies alongside Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graeme Garden, died on Saturday.<\/p>\n
He went on to host wildlife programmes for the BBC, including Birding With Bill Oddie, Bill Oddie Goes Wild, Springwatch and Autumnwatch.<\/p>\n
A statement from his friend and agent David Foster said: \u201cIt is with deep sadness that I announce the passing of Bill Oddie, the country\u2019s best-loved birder.<\/p>\n
\u201cBill was a multi-talented celebrity \u2013 wildlife presenter, broadcaster, comedian, writer, songwriter, musician and conservationist.<\/p>\n
\u201cYet it was never fame that he valued. Instead he encouraged us to respect and protect the environment.<\/p>\n
\n Bill Oddie was known for his conservation work (Ian West\/PA) Ian West<\/p>\n
Ian West\n<\/p>\n
\u201cHe taught us the wonder of it. He protested, lobbied and campaigned for it. He led the way and people of all ages and backgrounds responded to his call. And such a massive contribution to conservation will never be forgotten.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs Bill\u2019s agent I witnessed close hand his intelligence and wit. He was my friend and it was an honour and a privilege to represent him for so many years. I will miss him terribly.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy thoughts and love are with Bill\u2019s wife, Laura, and his daughters Bonnie, Kate and Rosie, who have asked not to be contacted at this sad time. Please respect their wishes.\u201d<\/p>\n
A birdwatcher since his childhood in Birmingham, Oddie was a respected ornithologist.<\/p>\n
He was a council member of the RSPB, the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and The Worldwide Fund for Nature. He was also president of The Northumberland Wildlife Trust and represented many other nature organisations.<\/p>\n
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\n Bill Oddie (Yui Mok\/PA) PA<\/p>\n
PA\n<\/p>\n
In addition, he wrote a number of books on birds and other wildlife topics.<\/p>\n
His comic career began in Cambridge Footlights, when he started writing for shows including That Was The Week That Was.<\/p>\n
He went on to write and appear on numerous programmes including I\u2019m Sorry I\u2019ll Read That Again, which featured many of his comic songs.<\/p>\n
He first found fame as a member of The Goodies and the trio earned household name status in Australia and New Zealand, as the television comedy show attracted millions of viewers in its heyday.<\/p>\n
His songs led the Goodies to several major chart hits, most notably The Funky Gibbon.<\/p>\n
He continued to work with his fellow Goodies on programmes including Bananaman, before turning his attention to nature shows.<\/p>\n
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\n The Goodies, from left, Graeme Garden, Bill Oddie and Tim Brooke-Taylor in 1975 (PA) PA<\/p>\n
PA\n<\/p>\n
Oddie spoke openly about suffering from crippling depression, and he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in 2009 after being dropped from the BBC show Springwatch, of which he was one of the original presenters.<\/p>\n
He was finally diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a condition where depressive periods alternate with manic activity.<\/p>\n
Speaking in 2014, he said he still felt a lingering sadness that his days on Springwatch were cut short, and he rarely watched the programme.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cI very much miss it, but when I do see it, it brings back many happy memories and I like to think I contributed to its success.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s still so well-loved and helps encourage people to enjoy the natural world. That\u2019s all to the good because I fear so many people wear earphones for their phones and music players that increasingly they miss out on everyday joys like birdsong.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy plea to people would be to \u2018go naked\u2019 occasionally \u2013 take off those earpieces so you hear nature and, of course, birdsong. You may not realise how precious it is until it\u2019s gone.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WILDLIFE PRESENTER AND Goodies star Bill Oddie has died at the age of 85, his agent has said.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":606876,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[75],"tags":[3412,256126,18,117,19,17,5768,218772,256127,461],"class_list":["post-606875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-bbc","tag-bill-oddie","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-obituaries","tag-springwatch","tag-the-goodies","tag-wildlife"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116993341682128878","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=606875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606875\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/606876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=606875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=606875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=606875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}