Television personality, writer and long-serving Waitaki district councillor Jim Hopkins is being remembered for his wit, comedy and advocacy for the underdog.

Cr Hopkins died in the early hours of Monday aged 79.

He made his name in screenwriting and broadcasting and later served on the Waitaki District Council for almost two decades.

Waitaki District Mayor Mel Tavendale said Cr Hopkins had a “massive sense of humour and personality that certainly lightened the mood many times at council”.

“Jim was a natural orator, a media legend, a sharp and generous mind and someone who always seemed to find his way to the side of the underdog,” she said in a Facebook post.

“Across New Zealand he was known — and, at times, famously or infamously known — as a broadcaster, columnist, author, debater and MC.

“He was a performer in the very best sense of the word: intelligent, satirical, quick-witted and always entertaining.

“But beneath the comedy, the performance and the razor-sharp wit was a man who cared deeply — about fairness, about people, about community and about this place we call home.”

In the 1970s, he wrote for the soap opera Close to Home.

The broadcaster hosted the national Young Farmer competition final for 21 years, until  2011.

His television credits included Inventions from the Shed, The Gong Show, Jim Hopkins Live and Critically Speaking.

The district council issued a statement on its website.

“Jim Hopkins is well known across New Zealand as a radio and television host, scriptwriter and author, and for the past two decades he devoted himself to the people of Waitaki through his role as a councillor,” it said.

Cr Hopkins was elected on to the council as Oamaru ward councillor in 2007 and remained in office until his death.

He served for three years as deputy mayor from 2010.

Before his time in Waitaki, he served four terms on the Banks Peninsula council.

Waitaki District Council chief executive Alex Parmley extended his condolences.

“We are working with Jim’s family to provide a fitting farewell for a deeply community-minded man whose commitment is something we can all look up to,” he said.

A condolences book will be available at the council for people to sign.