Heinz Wolff, a prominent scientist best known for his role as the presenter of the BBC’s Great Egg Race television programme has died, aged 89.
The German-born inventor and scholar passed away on Friday of heart failure, his family said.
Wolff was most recently professor emeritus at Brunel University London, where colleagues described him as an “inventive and inspirational leader”.
His unique hairstyle and bow tie became legendary among television viewers, most notably on BBC2′s Great Egg Race between 1977 and 1986.
The programme involved contestants inventing useful objects out of myriad, but limited, resources.
During his career, Wolff had advised the European Space Agency, attended school in Oxford, and graduated from University College London with a degree in physiology and physics.
A Jewish refugee, he moved to Britain from Germany on the day World War Two broke out in September 1939, aged 11, the BBC reported.
At Brunel, Wolff worked on projects linked to our ageing population.
He is survived by two sons and their four grandchildren. His wife Joan died in 2014.