His family hailed from the west coast town of Chilaw in Sri Lanka and were direct descendants of General Dominicus Corea, also known as Edirille Rala who was tasked to take over Kotte in 1596 for King Vimala Dharmasurya I.

[citation needed] Following brief careers in teaching at Uva College in Badulla (where he met his wife Monica) and as a salesman at Car Mart in Colombo, Vernon Corea joined Radio Ceylon as a Relief Announcer in 1956, he was appointed by the Director of the Commercial Service, the Australian, Clifford Dodd and his assistant Livy Wijemanne.

Throughout his life and his broadcasting career Corea promoted the very best of Sri Lankan talent in the world of popular music.

He was the first to consistently promote Sri Lanka's musicians through his highly influential entertainment column – EMCEE published in the Ceylon Daily News in the 1960s–1970s.

[14] Seven years later the first regular television transmission was conducted in Sri Lanka and the first TV presenter on that regular transmission was Vernon Corea's cousin, Vijaya Corea – he introduced his cousin to radio by asking him to present 'Kiddies Corner' a popular children's programme on Radio Ceylon in the 1960s.

There are now several television stations operating on the island, a far cry from the early experiments of the Radio Society of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1972.

Vernon Corea soon climbed the management ladder at the BBC – he was appointed Local Radio Asian Programmes Officer in 1978.

[18] Vernon Corea played a pivotal role in introducing and mentoring young, gifted and talented people into broadcasting.

Recalling his life, Reginald Massey noted in The Guardian: Corea was a born broadcaster and racy raconteur, prone to making outrageous remarks with a straight face.

But behind his frivolous manner was a generous and large-hearted Christian, who was also a lay reader at Emmanuel church in Wimbledon village, in south-west London.

'Vernon was a pioneering influence in the BBC and helped to lay the foundation for the work we are continuing to do to make sure our staff and our programmes are truly representative of our nation's diverse population.'

(Greg Dyke – Director-General BBC) 'His sense of loyalty to his management and to his profession and his compassion and concern for those who worked under him were exemplary.'

(Neville Jayaweera – former Director-General SLBC) 'The BBC at this time was striving to be more inclusive, and Corea found himself at the forefront of an increasing thrust for diversity.