News at Ten presenter Sandy Gall has died at home aged 97, his family have said.
The veteran anchor was the face of the show for 20 years, before retiring in 1992 to carry out charity work.
Before he joined ITN, he had experience working at the Aberdeen Press and Journal and Reuters. His career spanned from reporting on the Suez Crisis in 1956 to the Lockerbie bombing in 1988.
During his time as a correspondent for the foreign news agency, he spent a decade covering significant events. One of his earliest assignments was reporting on the assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas, Texas in 1963.
While on the field for ITN, he demonstrated his dedication by being one of the few journalists who stayed in Vietnam after the fall of Saigon. He witnessed the arrival of the first American marines at Da Nang and even sent images from inside a helicopter gunship.
In a tribute, his family said: ‘His was a great life, generously and courageously lived.’
His daughter Carlotta, who followed in his footsteps to herself become a legendary foreign correspondent, this afternoon said that she was ‘very sad but proud.’
Gall, who recieved a CBE in 1987 and a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 2011, died at his home in Kent on Sunday.
Then the country’s most watched programme, Gall presented News at Ten from 1970 to 1991.
Sandy Gall was the face of the News at Ten for 20 years, before retiring in 1992 to carry out charity work
Pictured: Sandy Gall goes to Afghanistan to take prosthenics to his charity in 1996
Working at the Aberdeen Press and Journal and Reuters before joining ITN, he covered everything from the Suez Crisis in 1956 and the Lockerbie bombing in 1988
In this time he was regularly paired with enigmatic Reginald Bosanquet.
He continued to work as a special reporter before finally retiring in 1992.
Gall then continued to work, setting up Sandy Gall’s Afghanistan Appeal to treat people from the war-ravaged nation. The charity was run by his wife and two of his daughters.
The work was inspired by his time reporting in the middle east, where he witnessed the horrors of battles including the Gulf War in 1991.
Fellow newsreaders have been quick to pay tribute, remembering a ‘giant’ of journalism who ‘helped to change the style of television news’.
Cameraman Bernard Glancy, who worked with Gall, said: ‘It is with great sadness to learn of Sandy Gall’s passing.
‘I had the privilege of working with him at ITN on several foreign assignments most notably during the Russian withdrawal of Afghanistan where the picture below was taken of myself, Mike Nolan and the great Sandy Gall.’
Ex-Security Minister Tom Tugendhat called him a ‘hero’ as he paid his respects on social media.
He said: ‘Sandy Gall told the stories we needed to hear and kept up with those whose lives he had brought to our notice.
Alastair Burnet (left) and Sandy Gall (right) appear as newsreaders on ITN’s News at Ten
Gall set up Sandy Gall’s Afghanistan Appeal to treat people from the war-ravaged nation. The charity was run by his wife and two of his daughters. Pictured: Reporting on the Gulf War
Fellow newsreaders have been quick to pay tribute, remembering a ‘giant’ of journalism who ‘helped to change the style of television news’
‘My condolences go to Carlotta Gall and the whole family. He was a legend to many, and a father to a lucky few.’
Former ITN anchor Alastair Stewart added: ‘A giant from the good days of ITN – reporter and presenter.’
ITV Royal Editor Chris Ship continued: ‘One of the most familiar faces in the country from two decades co-presenting ITV’s News at Ten, Sandy Gall, dies aged 97.
‘From his newsroom family at ITN, we salute a legendary broadcaster and foreign correspondent.’
Neil Drysdale, of the Press and Journal, where Gall started his career called him ‘one of the true journalistic greats’.
He continued: ‘He started out as a sub at the Press & Journal and maintained close links with the north-east, being educated at Aberdeen University and serving as Rector there from 1978 to 1981. A legend has left us!’
And former BBC foreign correspondent Jonathan Charles said: ‘I am very sorry to hear of the death of Sandy Gall.
‘I was lucky enough to work with him and learn from him during my brief spell at ITN in the mid 80s.
‘An excellent reporter, great writer and first rate newscaster. He helped to change the style of television news.
Gall’s information gathering and wit was so valued that he would be consulted by Foreign Office staff and be asked to pass information on to British Intelligence.
Gall’s wife Eleanor died in 2018, and he is survived by their son and three daughters. Picured: Sandy Gall and his wife Eleanor
Gall, who recieved a CBE in 1987 and a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 2011, died at his home in Kent on Sunday
Gall was born in 1927 in Penang, Malaya – which is now known as Malaysia
While it initially focussed on helping casualties left injured by war, land mine victims and children in refugee camps it was later broadened to help others with disabilities.
Gall was born in 1927 in Penang, Malaya – which is now known as Malaysia.
His Scottish father managed a rubber plantation, and the family returned home to Britain when he was four.
After leaving university in 1953, he joined Reuters, where he reported from across the world – and even spent time in a Ugandan prison death cell during the civil war.
He moved to ITN in 1963, where he characteristically demanded more funds to help with his coverage. During his coverage in Asia, the broadcaster cabled him to say ‘You are supposed to be reporting Vietnam, not buying it.’
Gall’s wife Eleanor died in 2018, and he is survived by their son and three daughters.
