Countdown creator Marcel Stellman has died age 96.
The sad news was shared by Stellman's nephew on Twitter today with a statement which read: "It is with our deepest sorrow we share with you news of the death of our beloved Uncle - Marcel Stellman, 96, who passed away late last night.
"Marcel is survived by his beloved wife Jean."
Tributes flooded in including a message from Carol Vorderman, who wrote: "I am so sorry to hear this news Mark....x
"Marcel and Jeanie and I had so many very happy decades together, forging a path for Countdown in the early days and working hard together to make it the juggernaut it then became.... Happy days. A great life well lived."
Another fan wrote: "RIP. He leaves behind a great legacy of Countdown."
Hailing from Belgium, Stellman was a record producer and lyricist and penned songs for stars including Petula Clark, The Shadows and Tony Bennett.
He also worked with the BBC throughout the 1940s and 1950s presenting educational broadcasts and later went on to work on kid' TV show Pinky and Perky.
Marcel's biggest achievement in TV was bringing French TV show Des chiffres et des lettres to the UK where it became Countdown.
He pitched a new version of the French show to networks in the UK and it was eventually snapped up by Yorkshire TV, and it aired under the name Calendar Countdown with Richard Whiteley hosting.
In 1982, the game show was snapped up by newly-created Channel 4 and saw producers bring in letter and number experts. Richard Whiteley was asked to continue presenting the show and team members such as Carol Vorderman were also brought in.
Since then, there have been over 82 seasons of the popular game show and a host of memorable guests.
Counting over 7,000 episodes in total alongside the French version, the show is considered one of the longest-running game shows in the world.
The series continued to be presented by Richard Whiteley until his death in 2005. Des Lynam, Des O'Connor, Jeff Stelling, and Nick Hewer all went on to present the show after Whiteley.
In 2008, co-host Carol Vorderman left the show and was replaced by Rachel Riley.
Earlier this year it was revealed that Countdown will return in summer 2021 alongside the show's first-ever female host. The Weakest Link presenter Anne Robinson is set to assume the role later this year.
