LONDON (AP) — Bill Oddie, a British comic actor who had a second career as as a bird expert and wildlife presenter, died on Saturday, his agent said. He was 85.
Oddie first found fame as a member of The Goodies, a comedy trio that also featured Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graeme Garden. The team starred in an off-beat comedy series of the same name that aired from 1970 to 1982 on the BBC. He went on to host BBC wildlife programs, including “Birding With Bill Oddie,” “Bill Oddie Goes Wild” and “Springwatch.”
“Bill was a multi-talented celebrity — wildlife presenter, broadcaster, comedian, writer, songwriter, musician and conservationist,” his agent, David Foster, said in a statement. “Yet it was never fame that he valued. Instead he encouraged us to respect and protect the environment.”
Born in 1941 in Rochdale, northwestern England, Oddie went on to study English literature at Pembroke College, Cambridge. He appeared in several productions of the Cambridge Footlights, a prestigious student sketch comedy troupe, alongside future stars such as John Cleese and Graham Chapman of Monty Python.
Those student productions led to work in London’s West End and on Broadway, persuading Oddie to abandon plans to become an English teacher or warden of a bird observatory.
Oddie later transformed his birding hobby into a job, presenting multiple wildlife shows and writing books such as “Bill Oddie’s Little Black Bird Book,” “Birdwatching with Bill Oddie” and “Follow That Bird.”
He is survived by his wife, Laura, and daughters Bonnie, Kate and Rosie.
