Broadcast legend John Stapleton has died aged 79 after a battle with Parkinson's disease and pneumonia. John was best known for presenting programmes including Newsnight, Panorama and GMTV's News Hour. He passed away peacefully in hospital on the morning of 21 September. His agent, Jackie Gill, said: "John had Parkinson’s disease, which was complicated by pneumonia. His son Nick and daughter-in-law Lisa have been constantly at his side and John died peacefully in hospital this morning."
The 79-year-old journalist revealed his Parkinson's diagnosis last year. At the time, he said he was aiming to "remain positive" and is "pragmatic" about the prospect of his condition worsening. "Speaking is how I've earned my living for the best part of 50 years," he said in a film played on BBC One's Morning Live. "Speaking is how I've earned my living for the best part of 50 years," he added. "I am fairly pragmatic about the prospect of this getting worse. I try to remain positive, because what’s the point of not being?"
John's son, Nick, who appears in the film, emphasised that it's "early days for us" following his dad's diagnosis and said that while the news has been "really upsetting", it didn't come as a surprise as his grandmother also had the condition. "But nonetheless I want to start these conversations now, to get some potentially difficult topics out in the open and make it easier for later on," he said.
John's passing comes five years after the death of his wife, Lynn Faulds Wood. Lynn died on April 24, 2020, at the age of 72 from a stroke. Announcing her death, her family released a statement which said: "Having suffered a massive stroke last night and a subsequent bleed on the brain, presenter and journalist Lynn Faulds Wood passed away peacefully at 12 noon today with her husband, John Stapleton, and son Nick at her bedside." The couple were married for 43 years.
A legendary career
Born in Oldham in 1946, John cut his teeth in newspapers before moving on to present BBC’s Panorama and Newsnight, where he reported live from tumultuous and war-stricken regions such as the Middle East, El Salvador and Argentina during the Falklands War in the early 1980s. He also presented GMB, before returning to the BBC in 1986 where he presented the consumer show Watchdog alongside his wife Lynn Faulds Wood until 1993.
© WireImageLater, he sat at the helm of the show The Time, The Place, which he presented until 1998, when he began hosting GMTV’s The News Hour with Penny Smith. John then worked as a Special Correspondent for the ITV breakfast program Daybreak from 2010 until 2015. After that, he continued to present on programmes such as the newly-established ITV's The South Bank Show, which he appeared on until 2023.
