He was 78 years old when he died. He was a judge on “Dancing With the Stars.”
The English dancer died on Saturday in a hospice in Kent, southern England. She had been in the ballroom competition from 2005 to 2018. It had been a long time since he last felt well.
His manager, Jackie Gill, told CNN on Monday that there were a lot of family members around him.
He is a judge on “Dancing With the Stars” along with Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli.Images from Getty Images and Disney General Entertainment submitted by Adam Taylor
He was born in 1944 in London. His website says he began dancing professionally when he was 19 years old and did it full-time before he got into TV.
Since the first episode of BBC’s “Strictly Come Dancing” in 2004, Goodman was the head judge on the British version of “Dancing With The Stars.” The last episode aired on Christmas Day 2016. Shirley Ballas filled in for him when he was gone.
Tim Davie, the director-general of the BBC, led the tributes. He said that Goodman was a “wonderful, warm entertainer who was loved by millions.”
“He made everyone feel like he was part of their family,” Davie added. A person of any age liked him. Len was the main reason why so many people watched Strictly. A lot of people, including himself and his many friends and family, will miss him a lot.
Another “Dancing With The Stars” judge, Bruno Tonioli, posted a touching picture of himself and Goodman holding hands and wrote, “Hart broken my dear friend and partner for 19 years the one and only ballroom LEGEND #LenGoodman passed away I will treasure the memories of our adventures @bbcstrictly @officialdwts there will never be anyone like you you will always be my perfect 10.”
Goodman ran a dance school in Kent called the Goodman Dance Academy when he wasn’t on TV. The book about his life, “Better Late Than Never: From Barrow Boy to Ballroom,” came out in 2009. “Lost London” and “Dancing Around Britain” were two more books he wrote.
