Veteran news anchor Richard Morecroft dies aged 70 following cancer diagnosis
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Veteran news anchor Richard Morecroft has died, aged 70, after being diagnosed with cancer earlier this year.
Morecroft presented ABC’s 7pm news bulletin for almost 20 years from 1983 to 2002.
Morecroft died after being diagnosed with cancer earlier this year. Instagram/@richard_morecroft
His death was announced on Instagram, with a statement saying he died “at a time of his choosing” on the South Coast of NSW.
“He was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year and was grateful to go peacefully, with his partner of 36 years, Alison Mackay, beside him,” it said.
“We are devastated to lose such a warm, generous and caring human and hope that all those who knew him, if only through their TV screens, will remember him fondly.”
Leigh Sales led tributes to Morecroft, calling him “pure class in every way”.
“I remember I started in the Sydney newsroom as a junior reporter … and he went out of his way to welcome me … touch base with me and to make sure that I was going OK,” Sales told ABC.
She said she last saw him about a month ago, and he was “dealing with bad news in a very stoic way and dignified manner”.
“He was full of life, he adored nature, he loved art, he loved people, he was just kind and caring, through and through,” Sales said.
Former ABC News Breakfast host Michael Rowland paid tribute to Morecroft as “the newsreaders’ newsreader”.
“When he said something you absolutely believed him because it was heartfelt and that was something the he took with him until his final days,” Rowland said.
Morecroft was a familiar face and voice on Australian TV for decades. Instagram/@richard_morecroft
Morecroft was born in Market Harborough, England, in 1956 and moved to Adelaide with his family as a child.
After presenting Adelaide’s news bulletin, Morecroft moved to Sydney and took over the ABC News’ NSW desk in 1983, a role he held for almost two decades.
He later hosted SBS game show Letters and Numbers.
