Veteran radio personality Robin Alexander, famed for his line “brrright eyed and bushy tailed”, died at his home in Parktown North, Johannesburg, on Wednesday at the age of 73, said his wife, Ros.
“He was busy getting into bed when he just fell back on to the bed,” she said.
“I kept saying what’s wrong and he said, ‘I’m having chest pains’,” Ros continued.
He died at 12:05am of a heart attack. His son Ross said his father had been retired for just over 10 years and had had a “huge zest for life”.
His parents travelled a lot and loved spending time at their home in Shaka’s Rock on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast.
“He loved being on the beach,” said Ross.
“He was also extremely busy, spending time doing lunches, breakfasts with friends, always doing something on the house.”
Insomniacs
The family had spent Christmas and New Year together. Besides his wife Ros and son Ross, he also leaves a son Robbie and six grandchildren.
According to a biography on the old LM Radio website, Alexander was born in KwaZulu-Natal and began his broadcasting career on the SABC english service in Durban.
He went on to join LM Radio in Lourenço Marques, the colonial name of Maputo in Mozambique. He joined Radio Highveld in 1964 and became one of their morning presenters.
Harriet Kruger, a contributor to Facebook page “Radio Highveld PS”, wrote on the wall of a fictitious character “Norman” who lived in the “Mayfair dip” that Alexander used to speak to during his show.
He was also a presenter on Radio Orion, where he kept insomniacs and people working at night company.
He also worked on community radio station, Radio Today. — Sapa