The former presenter of 'Blue Peter' and East Timor documentary filmmaker has passed away at the age of 66 in his home country of Australia following a battle with cancer.
- Oct 29, 2021
AceShowbiz - Max Stahl, the filmmaker and former "Blue Peter" presenter also known as Christopher Wenner, has died.
The star, who co-hosted the U.K. children's TV show from 1978 to 1980, passed away in Brisbane, Australia on Thursday local time (28Oct21), following a battle with cancer. He was 66 years old.
Following his stint on the programme, Stahl became an award-winning filmmaker and famously filmed the 1991 massacre of 271 protesters in East Timor against Indonesian rule.
Indonesia had governed the former Portuguese colony since invading in 1975 and Stahl travelled there in 1991, having heard about a planned protest march to a cemetery after a memorial service for an independence supporter.
He buried the film in the graveyard and it was later smuggled out and broadcast around the world, reported the BBC, and he subsequently documented the repression as East Timor declared independence in 1999.
Stahl's journalism career also saw him work as a war correspondent in Beirut.
His wife, Ingrid, announced his passing in a statement, "The king is dead. With great sadness, I write to inform you that Max passed away this morning."
Timor-Leste's former president, Jose Ramos-Horta, was quick to pay tribute to Stahl, referring to the late star as a "treasured son."
"There are only a few key points in the history of Timor-Leste where the course of our nation turned toward freedom. This was one of those points," the politician went on.
