Broadcasting icon and presenter Charles Arrigo passed away yesterday. He was 76.

Mr Arrigo, who would have been 77 in April, was taken ill while he was working in his office at Television House, Gwardamangia. He died later at St Luke’s Hospital.

Mr Arrigo began his career there in 1947, and was therefore in his 59th year of service to the national broadcasting station.

Considered one of the best broadcasters Malta has ever produced, he is remembered for his professionalism and work ethic.

“He was the supreme example of what a broadcaster should be. His professionalism and work ethic were exemplary and I shall always remember him as the person who guided me in my early days in the broadcasting business. Charles had a gift and he used it to the fullest of his abilities. We shall not see the like of him again,” fellow broadcaster and colleague Charles Abela Mizzi told The Malta Independent yesterday.

Mr Arrigo’s last dramatised reading on radio was transmitted yesterday and it was the conclusion to Abela Mizzi’s translation of the novel Qalb ta’ Omm, which was written by Carolina Invernizio.

His last major assignment was the live commentary of Gozo Bishop Mario Grech’s consecration ceremony on 22 January.

Mr Arrigo was not only an excellent broadcaster but he was also a good actor, taking part in the television series Villa Sunset on TVM in 2000. He played the role of the Colonel in the series.

Many people will also remember him presenting the popular Sunday afternoon quiz, Staqsini 20.

The Nationalist Party expressed its sadness yesterday at the death of Mr Arrigo, describing him as a veteran presenter who provided commentary for a large number of events of national and historical importance over the past half a century.

Labour Party leader Alfred Sant said that Mr Arrigo was a man of great talent, an excellent broadcaster who understood the importance of social communication in the country.

He said Mr Arrigo had also contributed to the development of Maltese literature and he had always extended his support to local authors, poets and novelists.

In a statement, Alternattiva Demokratika said that Malta lost a “national broadcaster who lived to promote the proper spoken Maltese”.Charles Arrigo was born on 6 April 1929 in Valletta and studied at the Lyceum and at Perugia University. In 1947, he joined Rediffusion (Malta) Ltd as the first Maltese male announcer and had a distinguished career as a broadcaster.

He was appointed producer of drama and documentaries in 1950, assistant head of radio programmes in 1971, head of drama and documentaries in 1974 and deputy head of Xandir Malta in 1987.

In 1991 he was appointed executive director on the board of Public Broadcasting Services and manager, Television Malta.

Mr Arrigo attended a BBC production course as announcer and newscaster on the BBC World Service in 1959 and returned to the BBC for training on television in 1962. He was one of the pioneers of the newly founded Malta Television Service in that year.

Arrigo is best known for his commentaries on state and religious occasions and for dramatised readings of Maltese novels, a programme which was started nearly 60 years ago. He was also involved as an actor with the British Institute Players and the Atturi Theatre Group.

In 1995, Arrigo was awarded the Midalja Ghall-Qadi tar-Repubblika (MQR).

The funeral will take place tomorrow at the Naxxar parish church where he was also a Sacred Minister of the Eucharist.