His friend and fellow journalist Mike Carlton said the respected television journalist, who appeared on several of Australia’s best-known TV current affair shows, died on Wednesday night.

“Saddened beyond measure to report the death last night of Peter Luck. My dear friend, and great journalist and writer,” Carlton tweeted on Thursday.

Luck is understood to have died after developing the debilitating neurological condition Parkinson’s.

He became one of Australia’s most respected TV journalists after joining the original team on the ABC’s groundbreaking current affairs program This Day Tonight, alongside Tony Joyce, Bill Peach, June Heffernan and Paul Murphy.

Stints followed with the ABC’s Four Corners, Nine’s Sunday, as well as Seven’s Today Tonight.

Luck also won acclaim for several historical documentaries including 1979’s top-rating and Logie-winning This Fabulous Century, a 36-part TV series detailing Australia in the 20th century and featuring interviews with 300 people. The series was re-made in 1999 and was again a ratings hit.

Throughout 1988, Seven screened his Bicentennial Minutes … A Time to Remember, a series of 266 mini-documentaries shot on 350 locations.

He then went on to make the 50 Fantastic Years specials for the Nine Network in 1995, along with Salute to Australians at War to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Luck also wrote 10 books , including Australian Icons and another based on This Fabulous Century.

Fellow journalists took to Twitter to pay tribute to Luck as one of Australia’s finest TV journalists.

“Vale Peter Luck, one of the true greats of journalism, a role model to generations of reporters,” Four Corners’ executive producer Sally Neighbour tweeted.

Fairfax columnist Peter FitzSimons added: “A very good man, Peter Luck, formidable journalist and writer, with a strongly Australian bent.”

Carlton told the ABC Luck was also “immensely creative” and funny.

“He was knowledgeable and he cared very deeply about public broadcasting,” Carlton said.

– AAP