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LONDON — Len Goodman, a former British exhibition dance champion who was a longtime choose on the hit BBC actuality competitors “Strictly Come Dancing,” in addition to its American spinoff, “Dancing With the Stars,” died on Saturday in a hospice in Kent, England. He was 78.
The trigger was bone most cancers, his agent, Jackie Gill, mentioned on Monday. Mr. Goodman, who had been working till up to a couple weeks in the past, was along with his spouse, Sue Barrett, and his son, James, when he died, Ms. Gill added.
Mr. Goodman was the top choose on “Strictly Come Dancing” from its debut in 2004 till 2016. The present, through which celebrities are paired with skilled dancers, has been one of many BBC’s top-rated packages. It has been exported to dozens of nations all over the world, together with the USA, the place “Dancing With the Stars” premiered on ABC in 2005.
Mr. Goodman judged “Dancing With the Stars” from its debut till final yr. He was identified for addressing contestants with wry humor, attraction and colourful phrases, in addition to a particular supply that included the best way he would announce the rating of “se-VEN!”
“He retained his humorousness throughout his sickness and handled it with nice dignity,” mentioned Ms. Gill. “He was all the time a real gentleman. He cherished his work and by no means took something with no consideration.”
Leonard Gordon Goodman was born in Bethnal Inexperienced, London, his agent mentioned. He moved to Blackfen, then in Kent, England, and now a part of London, when he was 6 and attended Westwood Secondary Trendy Faculty. He began dancing when he was 19, comparatively late in life for somebody who later turns into an expert, in line with Ms. Gill.
Mr. Goodman went on to have a profitable profession as a dancer, profitable Twin of the Giants, the British Rising Stars, the British Exhibition Championships (4 occasions) and the World Exhibition Championships. He then opened the Goodman Academy, a dance college in Dartford, England.
His first marriage, to the dancer Cherry Kingston in 1972, resulted in divorce. He later had a son, and he married Ms. Barrett in 2012. Along with his spouse and son, Mr. Goodman is survived by his two grandchildren.
Tributes to Mr. Goodman poured in on Monday, together with from the workplace of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain and from Buckingham Palace. Camilla, the queen consort, who danced with Mr. Goodman in 2019 at a army members membership in London, was “saddened” by the information of his loss of life, the palace mentioned on Monday.
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