Robin Leach

LAS VEGAS — Robin Leach, whose voice crystallized the opulent 1980s on TV’s “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,” died Friday. He was 76

His son, Steven Leach, said he died in Las Vegas, where he made his home.

Leach had a stroke in November while on vacation in Mexico that led to a months-long recovery, much of which he spent at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio before returning to Las Vegas in June. His son said Leach suffered another stroke Monday.

“Champagne wishes and caviar dreams” was Leach’s sign-off at the end of every episode of his syndicated show’s decade-long run that began in 1984.

Celebrities and others took to social media to express condolences and share stories about their interactions with Leach.

“Saddened to hear the news that Robin Leach has passed away,” Celine Dion tweeted. “He was a thoughtful and considerate man, and a great supporter of the entertainment scene in Las Vegas.”

Magician Criss Angel tweeted that he met “Uncle Robin,” as he affectionately referred to Leach, in 2004 and became fast friends.

“There will never be another,” he wrote.

Leach covered the excesses and sometimes gaudy style of the 1980s, a time before oil billionaires, titans of industry and Wall Street traders gave way to sneaker-wearing tech execs as the world’s richest people.

Leach appeared occasionally on the show, but he and his unmistakable English-accent narrated throughout, taking wishful viewers on tours of mansions with diamond-crusted chandeliers, yachts with Jacuzzis, and champagne that ran to four figures.

“Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” was the core of Leach’s career that spanned six decades and included stints with CNN, People magazine, Entertainment Tonight and the Daily Mail, where he began as a writer in Britain at 18.

“It is essentially the first reality show that’s ever been on television,” Steven Leach said Friday, referring to his father’s famous show. “He was unique in the fact that he got celebrities to open their houses for him.”