Michael Dean, New Zealand-born broadcaster, Died at 82

Michael Dean was born on May 15, 1933, in Palmerston North, and died on October 5, 2015.

He was a New Zealand-born television broadcaster from the 1960s to the 1980s,

Dean was best known for his work on the BBC in the United Kingdom, but who worked in his native New Zealand and in Australia.

His mother was Mavis Eileen Dean (née Mason) and her husband, general practitioner Kenrick Holt Dean, the grandson of Robert Holt.

He was educated at Palmerston North Boys’ High School and joined the local newspaper as a cadet journalist.

Dean fell ill at the age of 20 with tuberculosis and spent a period in a sanatorium.

Dean stayed in South Africa for a year, as a newspaper sports reporter in Cape Town, before returning to New Zealand to work for the New Zealand Broadcasting Service.

He then moved to the United Kingdom and gained prominence as a presenter for eight years on the BBC2 discussion programs Late Night Line-Up.

During the early 1970s, Dean made television documentaries on figures including George Formby, Noël Coward and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

After the cancellation of the show Late Night Line-Up in 1972, he returned to New Zealand, where he hosted the eponymous television chat show Dean on Sunday, before once again moving to Australia where he worked for the Nine Network and anchored that broadcaster’s 1976 Summer Olympics coverage.

However, Michael returned to the BBC in Britain and was a reporter on a number of programs including Man Alive and 40 Minutes.

Michael Dean passed away at 82 yrs old due to Dementia on October 5, 2015.