TV stars pay tribute to Beadle

Stars from the world of British TV have paid tribute to Jeremy Beadle, who died on Wednesday at the age of 59.The TV presenter passed away in hospital, with his wife Sue and close friends at his bedside, after losing a short battle with pneumonia.Beadle who was best known for the shows Beadle's About and You've Been Framed, leaves his wife, daughters Cassie, 21, and Bonnie, 19, and step-children Leo and Claire.Beadle was one of TV's best known faces during the 1980s and 1990s, regularly pulling in millions of viewers for his Saturday night ITV shows.Henry Kelly, Beadle's co-presenter on hidden camera show Game For A Laugh, said: "Jeremy and I were firm friends for nearly 30 years. I loved and admired him and I shall miss him desperately."Not only was he a terrific colleague in our Game For A Laugh days and beyond, but he was a most wonderful friend to have and the most entertaining company you could possibly imagine."Game For A Laugh ran from 1981-1985 and also featured Matthew Kelly and Sarah Kennedy.Ms Kennedy said: "I'm very, very sad for him and his family to know that he's gone."Noel Edmonds, Beadle's one-time BBC "rival" said it was "a sad loss for TV and a great shame that a new audience have lost Jeremy Beadle".He added: "We enjoyed a friendly rivalry over the years when I was doing the Late Late Breakfast Show and he was hosting Game For A Laugh."He was a consummate professional but also a greatly misunderstood man - a great TV talent who was never truly appreciated."I was always astonished at his ability to raise funds for charity. Nobody in showbusiness raised more money than him."Beadle was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2005, just ten months after having a tumour removed from his kidney.In 2001 Beadle was presented with an MBE for services to charity for his work with Children With Leukaemia, and is estimated to have raised more than £100-million for various charities.© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.

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ITN | January 31, 2008

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