'Food and Drink' star Michael Barry dies, aged 69

Michael Barry, the television cook on BBC Two's long-running Food and Drink programme, has died after a short illness at the age of 69.

Barry presented Food and Drink alongside Chris Kelly and wine experts Oz Clarke and Jilly Goolden for 17 years until the end of 2001. Often known as "the crafty cook", he also wrote 29 cookery books.

Speaking to BBC News, Goolden described Barry as a "a larger than life character, ebullient, warm-hearted and generous".

"I'm shocked and saddened by the death of my old colleague and friend with whom I worked happily for 17 years on Food and Drink," said Goolden.

"All the years we worked together, it was as though Michael and I were in a mutual appreciation society - his approach to cooking was fresh and practical, he definitely preferred to be called a cook and not a chef."

She added: "When we started working together I was just beginning my career as a 'wine expert' and Michael was an unswerving support - although he never drank wine himself, he just imagined it from my descriptions.

"His food was always delicious and I enthusiastically tasted absolutely every morsel he cooked for the programme. I considered him a close friend and will miss him."

Born Michael Bukht, he used the pseudonym Barry for his TV work, but also had a hugely successful career in radio.

After joining the BBC as a trainee in 1963, Barry became programme controller for the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation when he was 25. He moved into commercial radio in 1973 at London's Capital Radio and later became programme director for the GWR group.

In 1992, he and GWR chief executive Ralph Bernard co-founded Classic FM, which is still the most popular commercial radio station in the UK, attracting 5.74m listeners every week according to the latest RAJAR data.

Barry remained as programme controller of Classic FM until 1997, when he stepped down due to a stress-related illness. He died last Friday and is survived by the actor and dancer Jennie Jones, a son and three daughters.