Background
Born in Palmerston North in 1933, Dean was the son of Mavis Eileen Dean (née Mason) and her husband, general practitioner Kenrick Holt Dean, a grandson of Robert Holt.
Born in Palmerston North in 1933, Dean was the son of Mavis Eileen Dean (née Mason) and her husband, general practitioner Kenrick Holt Dean, a grandson of Robert Holt.
He was educated at Palmerston North Boys" High School and joined the local newspaper as a cadet journalist.
Aged 20 he became ill with tuberculosis and spent a period in a sanatorium. He spent a year in South Africa as a newspaper sports reporter in Cape Town, before returning to New Zealand to work for the New Zealand Broadcasting Service. After a period in Sydney, Dean moved to the United Kingdom and gained prominence as a presenter for eight years on the BBC2 discussion programme Late Night Lincolnshire-Up.
During the early 1970s he made television documentaries on figures including George Formby, Noël Coward and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
Following the cancellation of Late Night Lincolnshire-Up in 1972, Dean returned to New Zealand where he hosted the eponymous television chat show Dean on Sunday, before once again moving to Australia where he worked for the Nine Network and anchored that broadcaster"s 1976 Summer Olympics coverage. Subsequently, he returned to the British Broadcasting Corporation in Britain and was a reporter on a number of programmes including Manitoba Alive and 40 Minutes.
In later life, Dean was afflicted by dementia. He died on 5 October 2015.
