Robin Leach, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous Host, Dead at 76

Entertainment reporter Robin Leach, best known for hosting the docuseries Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, died Friday of a stroke. He was 76.

The TV personality had suffered a first stroke in November 2017, which kept him hospitalized until his death.

Leach’s family issued the following statement via the Las Vegas Review-Journal, where he worked as a celebrity columnist:

Despite the past 10 months, what a beautiful life he had. Our dad, grandpa, brother, uncle and friend Robin Leach passed away peacefully last night at 1:50 a.m. Everyone’s support and love over the past, almost one year, has been incredible and we are so grateful.

After getting his start in journalism by writing for several British and American publications, Leach broke into on-camera work in the 1970s with appearances on CNN, Entertainment Tonight and the local Los Angeles station KABC-TV, where he worked alongside Regis Philbin.

His most notable credit, though, was Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, the docuseries that ran in syndication from 1984 to 1995 and chronicled the lavish lives of wealthy celebrities, athletes and business moguls. Each episode of the series — which earned an Emmy nod in 1984 for Outstanding Informational Special — ended with Leach’s signature catchphrase, “Champagne wishes and caviar dreams.”

Leach went on to host Lifestyle‘s two spinoffs — Runaway with the Rich and Famous and Fame, Fortune and Romance — and in 2007 hosted the short-lived VH1 reality series The Surreal Life: Fame Games.

His career also included appearances on such unscripted series as America’s Next Top Model, Celebrity Wife Swap and Shark Tank. Most recently, he played a version of himself on two episodes of NBC’s now-defunct sitcom Great News.

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