Graham Kennedy
Encyclopedia
Graham Cyril Kennedy, AO
(15 February 1934 – 25 May 2005) was an Australian radio, television and film performer, often called Gra Gra and The King of Australian television
.
to Cyril William Kennedy and Mary Austen Kennedy (née Scott). His mother, who was 18 years old at the time of his birth, was employed at a local picture theatre. His father worked variously as an engineer and handyman, mowed lawns and washed cars, and in 1939 joined the RAAF
as an air gunner
. His first home was a "small, crowded duplex" at 32 Nelson Street, Balaclava. A 20 cm diameter plaque was placed on the property by the City of Port Phillip
, coincidentally in the week of Kennedy's death.
When Kennedy was two years old, his parents moved to Carlisle Street, St Kilda
for two years.
His parents divorced shortly before World War II, and Kennedy was largely raised by his grandparents, "Pop" Kennedy (who had been an electrician at Melbourne's Tivoli, Royal and Bijou theatres) and "Grandma Scott", to whom he remained particularly close until her death. Kennedy later said that he had:
After Kennedy's death, an article in The Bulletin
by his friend and colleague John Mangos
recorded that:
In 1977, Kennedy chaired a project to raise funds for improvements at Melbourne High which raised more than $100,000 in its first year.
shortwave service of the Australian Broadcasting Commission. He was offered, and accepted, a job as a news runner from Collins Street to the ABC studios in Lonsdale Street. Shortly thereafter he went to radio station 3UZ
, working in the record library.
In an era when Australian radio announcers routinely adopted false British accents and a "hard sell" approach to advertisements, his authentic Australian voice and irreverent attitude towards his sponsors made him the idol of his audience. By the early 1950s a newspaper survey found that more than 70% of Melbourne housewives tuned in to his show.
In his foreword to Nancy Lee's book Being a Chum Was Fun (1979) Kennedy wrote:
Nicholls moved from 3KZ
to 3UZ
(where Kennedy was working), bringing with him his teenage panel operators Alf "Alfie Boy" Thesinger and Russell Archer. However, eighteen-year-olds, Thesinger and Archer were "called up" (conscripted) for National Service. Nancy Lee's book records:
Nicky became father-figure, personal friend and mentor to Kennedy, and the two built an extraordinary on-air rapport. Kennedy wrote:
Nicky died on 8 September 1956.
morning radio programme with Bert Newton
in 1961–1962, which later originated from a studio built at Kennedy's home in Olivers Hill
, Frankston
.
In 1970 he worked at 3XY; from June to December 1975 he appeared on a 3LO drivetime program with Richard Combe; from September to November 1976 was on 3DB with Denis Scanlan; in 1977 he returned to DB to cover the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II
live from London.
and Tony Sattler (who together wrote the television programs Kingswood Country
and The Naked Vicar Show
), the shows were broadcast between 11 August and 23 September 1979.
The episode titles were:
Sattler and his wife (actress Noeline Brown
) were two of Kennedy's closest friends.
and from 24 May 1981 presented a computer-edited, three-hour Sunday morning program of music and comedy.
Red Cross telethon. Viewing his performance on the monitors, GTV-9's general manager Colin Bednall and producer Norman Spencer "... turned to one another without exchanging a word and shook hands."
(or IMT) which began on 6 May 1957. Thus the 23-year old Kennedy began a career of which he later said that he was "terrified for forty years". The show's theme song, "Gee, But You're Swell
", was written by Abel Baer and Thomas Tobias in 1936.
Kennedy was not GTV-9's first choice — they had planned to use either 3UZ personality John McMahon or 3DB's Dick Cranbourne. The programme's name had been intended to be 'The Late Show', but rival station HSV-7
beat them to that title by one week. The program became extremely popular, although Kennedy had his detractors. Kennedy was quoted as saying:
IMT was devised as a copy of the American 'Tonight Show' format, with the host presiding over sketches, introducing star artists and reading advertisements live. His colleague Bert Newton
records in his autobiography:
Spencer wielded other influence too. According to Hugh Stuckey, a writer on the show, the producer placed Kennedy with a series of attractive young women to displace rumours of Kennedy's homosexuality.
By July 1959 the program was still popular in Melbourne. Recurring comedy players Joff Ellen
and Rosie Sturgess became regulars. Singer Toni Lamond
joined the cast. Attempts were made at this time to launch Kennedy as a national personality. Special Friday night editions of IMT were produced under the title of The Graham Kennedy Show and recorded on videotape which had just come into use. After being transmitted live in Melbourne taped copies of the show would be shipped to Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney for transmission there on subsequent evenings. Producer Spencer observed there was critical and popular resistance to Kennedy in Sydney. Queensland too had shown suspicion to imports from down south trumpeted to Queenslanders as the best in Australia while Queensland itself had apparently been left out of this judgement.
The Graham Kennedy Show began in February 1960 but was not popular in Sydney. The program was judged stilted compared to IMT itself; Kennedy seemed much more subdued than usual, was tense, and the comedy was not working. Critics in Sydney and Queensland disliked key components of the show. Judged as a flop, The Graham Kennedy Show in Sydney was dropped by ATN7 after 13 weeks. The program however was immediately picked up by TCN9 – its general manager Ken G. Hall
saw potential in the program. After continued bad reviews its popularity increased in Sydney. By July 1960 it had reached its twenty-fifth episode and had the highest ratings in Australia.
Later in 1960 Kennedy faced opposition when Sir Frank Packer bought GTV-9. Unlike the previous owner, Packer interfered directly with the station's activities. GTV-9 executive Colin Bednall reported that Packer hated Kennedy and forcefully articulated his desire to have him removed from the IMT.
Kennedy himself was aware that Packer "loathed" him:
Packer's arrival prompted the departure of IMT producer Norman Spencer. IMT continued its run. Other regular performers on IMT were Patti Newton
and Philip Brady
. In 1961 Kennedy described his presentation of the program.
By March 1961 the national show had been renamed Graham Kennedy's Channel 9 Show and was finding quiet acceptance nationally. Even at this time Kennedy admitted there were problems in the weekly national show.
Kennedy by this stage did not always host IMT. Bert Newton hosted on Monday nights. Then a September 1961 reshuffle had Toni Lamond host Monday nights and Newton hosted only on Thursday nights. Kennedy took occasional nights off to be replaced by Frederick Parslow, Jimmy Hannan
, and Philip Brady. Despite resistance from network executives to the varied hosting line-up, the ratings remained strong.
In January 1962 the national Graham Kennedy's Channel 9 Show was cancelled and replaced by The Channel 9 Show hosted by Bert Newton. Kennedy continued to fine-tune his IMT performances. Kennedy had a strong understanding of key technical elements of television and perfected his comic timing, and watched the lenses on the TV cameras, adjusting his performance depending on whether he was in a wide shot or a close up. Compilation highlight programs of IMT segments were screened in Sydney, Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide in May 1963 under the title The Best of Kennedy. The Best of Kennedy continued until December 1963. On IMT, Noel Ferrier
was appointed the new Friday night host. Also in 1963 writer Mike McColl-Jones
joined. Kennedy had often disliked having writers on the program, was reluctant for them to be publicly acknowledged, and often ignored all their material. In the case of McColl-Jones, Kennedy seemed to like him and his comedy material, which was apparently the key requirement by which Kennedy would use a writer's material. McColl-Jones continued as a writer on the series for several years. Also in 1963 Ernie Carroll
joined the writing team. Kennedy had apparently relaxed his attitude towards writers by this stage and seemed happy to use their material with few complaints.
In 1964 Bert Newton abruptly disappeared from the program. It was not publicly acknowledged at the time but he had suffered a nervous breakdown. After a long absence he returned to appear on the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evening episodes. On 14 June 1965 IMT reached its 2,000th installment and more people watched the show per capita then any other television program in the world.
By this stage Frederick Parslow was well established on the program's writing team and was a confidante of Kennedy's.
On 7 July 1965 Kennedy appeared on a then-innovative live split-screen link with Don Lane
, the host of Sydney Tonight, via the recently completed co-axial cable linking Melbourne and Sydney. Starting late September 1966, IMT itself would be transmitted in Sydney via the co-axial cable. This coincided with a cameo in the film They're a Weird Mob in which Kennedy plays himself. Like the film's protagonist, Kennedy in the film finds Sydney to be a city somewhat unwelcoming towards migrants from anywhere. By early December 1966 ratings for Kennedy's show were strong in Sydney. There was an increase from one IMT episode a week in Sydney, to two, with a Monday night broadcast added that month.
By 1968 there was a regular roster of IMT guest hosts, including Bert Newton, Tim Evans, Bobby Limb
, Don Lane
, Kevin Sanders, and Michael Preston
. The announcement of Kennedy's intention to leave IMT was made in October 1969 and he left the show on the expiration of his contract 23 December 1969. His final episode features newsreader Sir Eric Pearce placing on his head a crown made by the Channel Nine prop department in the style of that worn by Henry IV
, symbolising Kennedy's reign as King of Australian television.
In 2007, the crown (which a private collector had recognised at a junk store in Bowral NSW, and purchased for $5) was auctioned for more than $17,000 to a producer of the Seven Network's Sunrise
programme.
, his style was bawdy, irreverent, iconoclastic, often smutty, sometimes deliberately camp
, and laden with innuendo
and double-entendre. He regularly overstepped the boundaries of accepted "good taste", once telling a fan "There are no limits, love, there are no limits."
Journalist Megan Gressor described Kennedy's style as having "... mongrel roots — a hybrid of vaudeville, slapstick and endless suggestiveness, plus a subliminal subversiveness all his own. It seems almost pantomimic to modern eyes, but Kennedy was a product of simpler times. And more complex. His was an act predicated upon repression; naughtiness loses its point in a world without taboos, where anything goes. It wouldn't work today, when people don't just say "fuck" on television, they do it."
Newton has written:
recounts in his book Compulsive Viewing that a "cocky young salesman" visited the IMT set hoping for an extra plug for his employer's product. The young salesman was Sam Chisholm
, who later became a senior executive for variously the Packer
and Murdoch
media empires. A May 2005 interview with Chisholm records:
Memorial Guide Dog Centre and was given a Labrador Retriever
which he named "Rover".
Rover was sometimes brought into the studio to assist with advertisements for Pal dog food. One night the dog showed no interest whatsoever in the product, which Kennedy then himself proceeded to eat with apparent relish, straight from the can – or so it seemed.
Rover also achieved television immortality by relieving himself – live to air – upon one of the huge cameras. The studio audience collapsed in hysterics, but the duration and urgency of Rover's impressively hydraulic performance might have led some cynics to question just how impromptu the event really was.
Biographer Blundell quotes Ernie Carroll:
Kennedy was exasperated for decades by questions about "whatever happened to Rover". As late as 1989, on Graham Kennedy's News Hour (see below), he answered a viewer's question couched in exactly those words with the withering reply "... he was a dog. What do you think happened?"
In early June 2005, on the 3AW
programme Nightline with Philip Brady and Bruce Mansfield
, Patti (McGrath) Newton stated that her father had often looked after Rover when he appeared at GTV-9. It seems that Kennedy had become increasingly irritated with retrieving Rover from the pound and so, when Patti's father's dog died, Rover went on to a long and happy life at the McGrath (senior) household.
on 19 September 1972. This series lasted until late 1973. In 1974, when Kennedy claimed he wanted a rest, Nine allegedly paid him not to sign with another network. The Graham Kennedy Show resumed in March 1975, and was Kennedy's first series in colour.
Memorable, and controversial, moments, included the "crow call" controversy where, on 5 March 1975, Kennedy imitated a crow call ("faaaaaark") highly reminiscent of the word "fuck
". This incident led the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal
to ban Kennedy from live television, forcing him to pre-record the show on videotape.
Another notable moment was from 17 April 1975, when Kennedy attacked Senator Doug McClelland, the then Minister for the Media, over local content issues. His comments were edited, and a voiceover recorded by the general manager was inserted saying that Kennedy had made a "cowardly attack on a Labor Minister who was unable to defend himself."
Following the McClelland incident, Kennedy parted company with the Nine Network, but later returned.
, which began on 21 June 1976.
to host a comedy game show, Blankety Blanks
. It dominated early evening television over two seasons, between 7 February 1977 and 15 September 1978. The show featured friends from his earlier days including Noeline Brown
, Barry Creyton
, Noel Ferrier
, Ugly Dave Gray
, Carol Raye
and Stuart Wagstaff
.
In 1979, "The King" became King of Moomba
complete with his famous motorised desk, the second Melbourne-born recipient after Newton
.
Kennedy initially "pulled the plug" and withdrew from the show but returned (see Harry M. Miller, below). Kennedy's contract stipulated that his co-presenter would be sports commentator Ken Sutcliffe
.
Kennedy's writers, who worked from a production cottage at the corner of Scott Street and Artarmon Road included Jim Pike, Tim Evans, Larry Burns, and Ken Stirling. Blundell records:
"They worked in the back room shooting out gags over typewriters and word processors, united in their hatred of the 'The Little Guy' as they also called him.""
The writers also referred to Kennedy as "the little buggle-eyed bastard",. However, they admired his talent. Jim Pike said, ".. I hate him, but he is the best there is".
Kennedy defied convention with remarks which were tasteless, and yet hilarious. Pointing out the irony of how a news show gets good ratings he said it would be helpful for his show's ratings if the Pope's aircraft were to fly into a mountain while it was full of orphans. He also remarked that Queen Elizabeth II "didn't have bad breasts ... for a woman of her age" and mocked the 17 October 1989, San Francisco Loma Prieta earthquake with a re-creation on the set.
After a slightly heavy woman was caught for streaking at a cricket match, Graham explained on air that they would run the footage but had to cover certain offending parts of her body with black. The clip he played was all black, except for a single spot that revealed her pubic hair.
He also reprised the "Chum Song" from Melbourne radio days, saying that it originated in a 1920s children's newspaper column in Scotland. In Nancy Lee's book Being a Chum Was Fun she writes:
The lyrics of the chorus are:
Sutcliffe would "corpse", with tears in his eyes, unable to continue; this became so frequent that Kennedy managed to coin a catchphrase, "I love it when he cries".
Kennedy called Sutcliffe "Two Dogs" after delivering a joke ending with the tag "Why do you ask, Two Dogs Rooting?"
Graham Kennedy's News Show was a rarity in that it was a live news show that had a studio audience. Five nights a week for most of the year, audiences lined up at 10:30 at night just to see Kennedy do his magic in the flesh. Often the funniest parts of the show were in the commercial breaks when Kennedy would come down and join the audience for a chat. He always made a point of telling them a particularly crude joke that was timed so they got the punchline just a second before the show was back on air.
as his agent. According to biographer Blundell, Kennedy believed that Miller was to donate his commission of $2500 per week to the Wayside Chapel
for Kennedy's appearance on Graham Kennedy's News Show.
Miller later sued Kennedy for "wrongful termination and for a 20 per cent commission on his 1989 gross earnings." During the court case Miller "painted a picture of his client of twenty years as a late-night drunk in the habit of sending demanding faxes while under the influence." Justice Brownie found against Miller, and ordered him to pay $75,699 and costs.
which was broadcast between 29 March and 15 November 1990 on the Nine Network.
special 35 Years of Television in 1991. The segment covered the very early days of television variety, including his own In Melbourne Tonight.
had ambushed him by departing from a pre-agreed list of questions, Kennedy ensured that much of the interview was unusable for broadcast by peppering his responses with obscenities.
In 2005 John Mangos wrote:
Ray Martin denied any ill intent, saying "We faxed a series of general topics, but it was clear at the outset that much would depend on the general run of the interview [...] An ambush was not on the agenda [...] He had no complaints. There was never a suggestion that he was unhappy."
in 1960, after the inventor of television, John Logie Baird
.
Kennedy received many Logies, including:
He also had a cameo in On the Beach
(1959) which was not used.
Kennedy's homosexuality
was considered an open secret to many in the Australian entertainment industry, although Kennedy himself never publicly acknowledged that he was gay.
In the 1960s Bob Dyer
described him as "probably the loneliest young man in Australia."
In 1973 Melbourne newspapers reported that Kennedy was engaged to 28-year-old American singer Lana Cantrell
(born 7 August 1943), who became a successful New York lawyer.
Many years later, Kennedy wrote to a newspaper that a photographer, taking pictures of Miss Cantrell and him leaving a restaurant together asked if he could "hint at a romance". The following Sunday a poster proclaimed "GRAHAM AND LANA TO WED". His former housekeeper, Mrs Devona Fox, in the 2009 television documentary The Real Graham Kennedy, produced by Bob Phillips, one of the producers from Kennedy's break-thru Channel 9 program In Melbourne Tonight
, is quoted as saying:
In his 2006 book King and I: My Life With Graham Kennedy broadcaster Rob Astbury
stated that he and Kennedy had been lovers. Kennedy is portrayed as homosexual in the 2007 biopic The King
.
, near Bowral in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales
, near to his friends Tony Sattler and Noeline Brown
, where his main companions were two Clydesdale
horses named Dave and Sarah, and Henry, a Golden Retriever
.
On 18 December 2001 his housekeeper found him unconscious and dehydrated. Sattler said "Between the diabetes and the booze, there's not much left of him", adding that the death of Kennedy's dog Henry was "the final trigger".
On 14 June 2002 Kennedy was found unconscious at the foot of the stairs at his home, suffering a broken leg and skull with suspected brain damage.
His Canyonleigh property was sold, and he moved into a townhouse and later a nursing home.
According to Graeme Blundell
's biography, Tony Sattler:
[...] Sattler received a phone call from [...] an 'unnamed businessman' — [...] ten minutes later there was a call from Graham's bank to tell Sattler that $150,000 had been deposited in the ailing comedian's account.
On 27 May 2005, Noeline Brown confirmed that the benefactor was Sam Chisholm
.
However, Kennedy's will reportedly left a seven-figure sum to the Sydney City Mission
.
said:
Actor Graeme Blundell, who had worked with Kennedy on the movie The Odd Angry Shot, published a biography of Kennedy, King: The Life and Comedy of Graham Kennedy (McMillan, 2003). A newspaper report stated that Kennedy "passed on his best wishes but declined to be involved 'for no particular reason [...] other than he believes he has a limited memory of many of the facts of his life'." The book, which was completed before Kennedy's death, ends with "Graham read them [chapters of an early draft] ... asked if he wished to read any more, 'No', Graham Kennedy said. 'I know how it ends."
In 2001 Kennedy's friend and Coast to Coast colleague, John Mangos, was reported as saying:
I can say to his beloved fans that they won't see Graham again. He won't appear publicly again; he is in his twilight. He has made a personal decision to disappear quietly into the sunset.
.
John Mangos wrote in The Bulletin:
He also wrote:
Korsakoff's syndrome
is a form of amnesia
seen in chronic alcoholics; briefly stated, victims eat too little and drink too much.
alleged that Kennedy had died from an AIDS-related disease. This was strenuously denied by his friends and carers Noeline Brown
and Tony Sattler, and as a result Kennedy's biographer Graeme Blundell then published Kennedy's medical records, including a recent negative HIV test, to disprove this allegation. Hinch fought back saying he didn't say Kennedy had AIDS, but that he was homosexual, had symptoms similar to those of Kaposi's Sarcoma
, and died of pneumonia
, thus implying Kennedy's death was AIDS-related.
the right to televise the funeral but it declined, claiming it could not justify the cost of the outside broadcast. The Seven Network
accepted, and gave coverage free of charge to the Nine Network. Hence, the one-hour funeral service was aired simultaneously across both Seven and Nine Networks.
Stuart Wagstaff
presented the funeral, which was attended by many of Kennedy's friends, colleagues and associates on the morning of 31 May 2005 in a small community theatre in the town of Mittagong.
Wagstaff's eulogy alluded to the claims made by Derryn Hinch about the cause of Kennedy's death:
Kennedy had never explicitly stated that he was homosexual, but at his funeral, his friends were at last free to make jokes, in a friendly way.
The Age
of 26 June 2005 reported John Mangos as saying that he "knew Kennedy wanted his ashes scattered at sea. And that wish was carried out." This was confirmed in a report in The Sydney Morning Herald
on 2 August 2005 which stated that Kennedy's ashes were scattered in the sea at Kiama attended by a group which included "Noeline Brown, Tony Sattler, John Mangos, Stuart Wagstaff, Kennedy's former housekeeper Sally Baker-Beall and her husband John, and old friends Christine and Nicholas Deeprose."
Four of Graham Kennedy's television shows were named in the program 50 Years 50 Shows
which counted-down the top 50 Australian TV shows of all time, as decided by ratings data and the opinions of 100 television industry professionals, on the Nine Network on 25 September 2005. Kennedy's In Melbourne Tonight topped the poll, Power Without Glory (15th), Blankety Blanks (20th), and Coast to Coast (42nd).
In the Australia Day
honours of 26 January 2006, Kennedy was posthumously appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia
(AO), for "service to the entertainment industry as an actor, comedian and presenter significantly influencing the development of the radio, television and film industries in Australia, and to the community"
. The award was made effective from 5 May 2005.
began filming in December 2006. It stars Stephen Curry as Kennedy and Stephen Hall
as Bert Newton, with Garry McDonald
, Shaun Micallef
, Steve Bisley
, Jane Allsop
as Noeline Brown, Beau Brady
, Leo Taylor as Sir Frank Packer
, and Bernard Curry as John Wesley.
The project, which cost $2.1 million, premiered on 20 May 2007 on TV1 (becoming the highest-rating drama to be shown on pay-TV) to heavy criticism by Kennedy's friends. Tony Sattler and his wife, actress Noeline Brown, Kennedy's closest friends, said they were mortified by the movie. "The film was obsessed with his homosexuality. I don't think people cared about that....He was Australia's most famous, successful entertainer but how much do we see of that in the film? We see fuck all of it." The Nine Network screened the film on 27 August 2007 .
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(15 February 1934 – 25 May 2005) was an Australian radio, television and film performer, often called Gra Gra and The King of Australian television
Australian television
Television in Australia began experimentally as early as 1929 in Melbourne with stations 3DB and 3UZ using the Radiovision system by Gilbert Miles and Donal McDonald, and later from other locations, such as Brisbane in 1934....
.
Childhood
Kennedy was born in Camden Street, BalaclavaBalaclava, Victoria
Balaclava is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, in Australia. It is situated in the south-east of the city in the St Kilda East area and is bounded by Inkerman Street to the north, Chapel Street to the west, Hotham Street to the east and Oak Grove and Los Angeles Court to the south. In terms of its...
to Cyril William Kennedy and Mary Austen Kennedy (née Scott). His mother, who was 18 years old at the time of his birth, was employed at a local picture theatre. His father worked variously as an engineer and handyman, mowed lawns and washed cars, and in 1939 joined the RAAF
Royal Australian Air Force
The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...
as an air gunner
Air gunner
An air gunner a.k.a. aerial gunner is a member of an air force aircrew who operates flexible-mount or turret-mounted machine guns or autocannons in an aircraft...
. His first home was a "small, crowded duplex" at 32 Nelson Street, Balaclava. A 20 cm diameter plaque was placed on the property by the City of Port Phillip
City of Port Phillip
The City of Port Phillip is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia. It is located on the northern shores of Port Phillip, south of Melbourne's central business district. It has an area of 20.62 km² and has an estimated population of 96,110 people....
, coincidentally in the week of Kennedy's death.
When Kennedy was two years old, his parents moved to Carlisle Street, St Kilda
St Kilda, Victoria
St Kilda is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Port Phillip...
for two years.
His parents divorced shortly before World War II, and Kennedy was largely raised by his grandparents, "Pop" Kennedy (who had been an electrician at Melbourne's Tivoli, Royal and Bijou theatres) and "Grandma Scott", to whom he remained particularly close until her death. Kennedy later said that he had:
"often wished his mother and father had never married. 'I wasn't enamoured of either of them [...] they betrayed me [...] divorce is not too much fun for a little nine-year-old [...]"
After Kennedy's death, an article in The Bulletin
The Bulletin
The Bulletin was an Australian weekly magazine that was published in Sydney from 1880 until January 2008. It was influential in Australian culture and politics from about 1890 until World War I, the period when it was identified with the "Bulletin school" of Australian literature. Its influence...
by his friend and colleague John Mangos
John Mangos
John is an Australian news presenter.He is also a host on talk back radio station 2UE and a regular on Sunrise on the Seven Network. He has also made cameo appearances on the Australian comedy programs Pizza and Swift and Shift Couriers....
recorded that:
... he would sometimes talk about the violent arguments between his parents, how he gravitated to his grandmother's bosom, his two uncles ("one fought the Germans, the other fought the Japs") and how one of them took liberties with the boy. Graham never resented him, claiming he equated it with affection.
Education
Kennedy was educated firstly at Euston College (which no longer exists) on the corner of Chapel and Carlisle Streets, secondly at Caulfield North Central School (now Caulfield Junior College) and finally at Melbourne High School, South Yarra.In 1977, Kennedy chaired a project to raise funds for improvements at Melbourne High which raised more than $100,000 in its first year.
After school
During a school break in 1949, Kennedy worked in his uncle's hairdressing shop at 475 Collins Street, where he met clients who worked in the same building for the Radio AustraliaRadio Australia
Radio Australia is the international broadcasting and online service operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation , Australia's public broadcaster.- History :...
shortwave service of the Australian Broadcasting Commission. He was offered, and accepted, a job as a news runner from Collins Street to the ABC studios in Lonsdale Street. Shortly thereafter he went to radio station 3UZ
3UZ
3UZ is the official callsign of a medium-wave radio station in Melbourne, Australia which broadcasts under the name Radio Sport National.-History:...
, working in the record library.
3UZ and Nicky
Melbourne's top commercial radio personality was 'Nicky' — Clifford Nicholls (real name Clifford Nicholls Whitta). A radio performer since 1932, he presented a popular housewife's programme, as well as "Chatterbox Corner" with his wife Nancy Lee (Kathleen Lindgren).In an era when Australian radio announcers routinely adopted false British accents and a "hard sell" approach to advertisements, his authentic Australian voice and irreverent attitude towards his sponsors made him the idol of his audience. By the early 1950s a newspaper survey found that more than 70% of Melbourne housewives tuned in to his show.
In his foreword to Nancy Lee's book Being a Chum Was Fun (1979) Kennedy wrote:
About forty years ago, when I was a snow haired six year old, I can remember being totally captivated by a grown man pretending to be a naughty little boy on 3AW3AW3AW is a talkback radio station in Melbourne, Australia on 693 kHz AM. It began transmission on 22 February 1932 as Melbourne's fifth commercial radio station.-History:...
's children session called "Chatterbox Corner". His name was Clifford Whitta, and he was to become the most important man in my life. Years later I was even more fascinated with this man when he conducted a breakfast program and let the boy who played his records actually talk on the air with him.
Nicholls moved from 3KZ
3KZ
Gold 104.3 is a radio station broadcasting in Melbourne, Australia. Gold 104.3 is part of the Australian Radio Classic Hits Network and broadcasts on the 104.3 MHz frequency.- History :...
to 3UZ
3UZ
3UZ is the official callsign of a medium-wave radio station in Melbourne, Australia which broadcasts under the name Radio Sport National.-History:...
(where Kennedy was working), bringing with him his teenage panel operators Alf "Alfie Boy" Thesinger and Russell Archer. However, eighteen-year-olds, Thesinger and Archer were "called up" (conscripted) for National Service. Nancy Lee's book records:
I asked Nicky, "Have you decided on anyone to help you in the session yet?" When I heard the chosen one was to be young Graham, I was surprised. "Oh, no, not Graham! [...] he's a nice boy, but he can't talk." Nick said, "Mum, leave him to me."
Nicky became father-figure, personal friend and mentor to Kennedy, and the two built an extraordinary on-air rapport. Kennedy wrote:
Being straight man to one of the greatest entertainers of our time was not all that easy. We were not always chums. He would spend weeks not talking to me (except on air) for something I had unknowingly said or done. Once he even suspended me from the programme for some trivial matter. [...] I worked with him until his sudden death in 1956. I never stopped being a fan. I did not realize then that I had been prepared for another career on another electrical medium: the most potent communication device of the century.
Nicky died on 8 September 1956.
Other radio
By May 1957, Kennedy was appearing on television (see below), but also presented a 3AK3AK
3AK is the call sign of SEN 1116 and earlier the on-air name of a former Melbourne talk-back radio and music station, which, in 2003, leased its licence to sports network SEN 1116...
morning radio programme with Bert Newton
Bert Newton
Albert Watson "Bert" Newton, AM, MBE is an Australian television personality, known for hosting television series such as In Melbourne Tonight, Good Morning Australia and 20 to 1. Newton has also hosted the Logie Awards on numerous occasions through his career.-Early life:Newton was born in...
in 1961–1962, which later originated from a studio built at Kennedy's home in Olivers Hill
Olivers Hill
Olivers Hill is a locality located in the City of Frankston, Victoria in Australia. It is the first major rise in terrain along the eastern coastline of Port Phillip, between Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula...
, Frankston
Frankston, Victoria
Frankston is a suburb within the Greater Melbourne metropolitan area in Victoria, Australia. It is located 40 km southeast of the state capital Melbourne at the southernmost edge of Greater Melbourne, near the beginnings of the Mornington Peninsula...
.
In 1970 he worked at 3XY; from June to December 1975 he appeared on a 3LO drivetime program with Richard Combe; from September to November 1976 was on 3DB with Denis Scanlan; in 1977 he returned to DB to cover the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II
Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II
The Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II marked the 25th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession to the throne of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and other Commonwealth realms...
live from London.
RS Playhouse
Kennedy recorded eight thirty-minute radio comedies for the ABC under the title Graham Kennedy's RS Playhouse. Written by Gary ReillyGary Reilly
Gary Reilly is an Australian television producer and writer born in New Zealand in 1945. He is most famous for his work on a variety of comedy series such as The Naked Vicar Show, Kingswood Country, Hey Dad..! and Bullpitt!. He also has a strong friendship and was once neighbours with Australian...
and Tony Sattler (who together wrote the television programs Kingswood Country
Kingswood Country
Kingswood Country is an Australian sitcom that screened from 1980 to 1984 on the Seven Network. The series started on 30 January 1980 and was a spin-off from a sketch on comedy program The Naked Vicar Show that had featured Ross Higgins as a blustering bigot...
and The Naked Vicar Show
The Naked Vicar Show
The Naked Vicar Show was a satirical Australian radio, television series. The classic Australian sitcom Kingswood Country was spawned from sketches in the series....
), the shows were broadcast between 11 August and 23 September 1979.
The episode titles were:
- "The Birthday Boy"
- "Because He's My Brother"
- "You Only Live Once"
- "Sunday Morning Fever"
- "The Chocolate Milkman"
- "The Prawnbroker"
- "Mad Jack's Dentist"
- "The Good Morning Show"
Sattler and his wife (actress Noeline Brown
Noeline Brown
Noeline Brown is an Australian actor and comedian. She has appeared in many films, television shows, plays and radio programs....
) were two of Kennedy's closest friends.
2Day FM
In 1980 Kennedy became a ten percent shareholder in Sydney radio station 2Day FM2Day FM
Not to be mixed up with Today FM in Ireland.2Day FM is a commercial FM radio station broadcasting in Sydney, Australia, on a frequency of 104.1 MHz, and part of Austereo's Today Network.- Transmission :...
and from 24 May 1981 presented a computer-edited, three-hour Sunday morning program of music and comedy.
Television career
Kennedy's first television appearance was in March 1957, representing 3UZ on a GTV-9GTV-9
GTV is a commercial television station in Melbourne, Australia owned by the Nine Network. The station is currently based at a new high-tech, purpose-built studios at 717 Bourke Street, Docklands.-History:...
Red Cross telethon. Viewing his performance on the monitors, GTV-9's general manager Colin Bednall and producer Norman Spencer "... turned to one another without exchanging a word and shook hands."
In Melbourne Tonight (IMT)
Bednall and Spencer defied both the GTV-9 boardroom and the first sponsor (Philips) by choosing Kennedy, who began on a salary of 30 pounds for five one-hour evening shows per week to be called In Melbourne TonightIn Melbourne Tonight
In Melbourne Tonight, also known as "IMT", was a highly popular nightly variety television show produced at GTV-9 Melbourne from 6 May 1957 to 1970....
(or IMT) which began on 6 May 1957. Thus the 23-year old Kennedy began a career of which he later said that he was "terrified for forty years". The show's theme song, "Gee, But You're Swell
Gee, But You're Swell
Gee, But You're Swell was written by Abel Baer and Charles Tobias in 1936, and published by Remick Music Corp. in the same year.One of the first recordings was in 1937, by Chick Webb and his Orchestra with vocal by Louis Jordan...
", was written by Abel Baer and Thomas Tobias in 1936.
Kennedy was not GTV-9's first choice — they had planned to use either 3UZ personality John McMahon or 3DB's Dick Cranbourne. The programme's name had been intended to be 'The Late Show', but rival station HSV-7
HSV-7
HSV is a television station in Melbourne. It is part of the Seven Network, one of the three main commercial television networks in Australia, and its first and oldest station, having been launched in time for the 1956 Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne....
beat them to that title by one week. The program became extremely popular, although Kennedy had his detractors. Kennedy was quoted as saying:
- "Many women write to tell me that although their husbands may not like me, they do. It appears from the mail that the women have the say on what the household is watching. And we do remember that it is the women who do the buying of products that we advertise. Bearing that in mind we try and design our commercials for them."
IMT was devised as a copy of the American 'Tonight Show' format, with the host presiding over sketches, introducing star artists and reading advertisements live. His colleague Bert Newton
Bert Newton
Albert Watson "Bert" Newton, AM, MBE is an Australian television personality, known for hosting television series such as In Melbourne Tonight, Good Morning Australia and 20 to 1. Newton has also hosted the Logie Awards on numerous occasions through his career.-Early life:Newton was born in...
records in his autobiography:
- "(Norman) Spencer was the mastermind of IMT; don't let anyone forget that. Nothing happened on IMT that Norm did not approve personally [...] Norman Spencer chose Graham Kennedy as compère; Norm kept his eye on the show from day to day; he pushed the buttons from the control room which put the TV shots into viewers' homes at night; he added the talent around Graham and he set up the organisation.
Spencer wielded other influence too. According to Hugh Stuckey, a writer on the show, the producer placed Kennedy with a series of attractive young women to displace rumours of Kennedy's homosexuality.
- "This was an era in which homosexuality was, well, horrifying. So every now and again Kennedy had to be seen about in case any viewers thought him the other persuasion. [...] It was cleverly manipulated – the station had the media at its disposal. It was all to give Graham a good old hetero image though he always seemed very unsexual."
By July 1959 the program was still popular in Melbourne. Recurring comedy players Joff Ellen
Joff Ellen
Joff Ellen was an Australian entertainer, actor and comedian.During World War II he performed vaudeville acts to the troops and after the war did comedy shows on Melbourne radio station 3XY...
and Rosie Sturgess became regulars. Singer Toni Lamond
Toni Lamond
Toni Lamond AM is an Australian cabaret singer, stage actor, dancer and comedienne...
joined the cast. Attempts were made at this time to launch Kennedy as a national personality. Special Friday night editions of IMT were produced under the title of The Graham Kennedy Show and recorded on videotape which had just come into use. After being transmitted live in Melbourne taped copies of the show would be shipped to Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney for transmission there on subsequent evenings. Producer Spencer observed there was critical and popular resistance to Kennedy in Sydney. Queensland too had shown suspicion to imports from down south trumpeted to Queenslanders as the best in Australia while Queensland itself had apparently been left out of this judgement.
The Graham Kennedy Show began in February 1960 but was not popular in Sydney. The program was judged stilted compared to IMT itself; Kennedy seemed much more subdued than usual, was tense, and the comedy was not working. Critics in Sydney and Queensland disliked key components of the show. Judged as a flop, The Graham Kennedy Show in Sydney was dropped by ATN7 after 13 weeks. The program however was immediately picked up by TCN9 – its general manager Ken G. Hall
Ken G. Hall
Kenneth George Hall, AO OBE , better known as Ken G. Hall, was an Australian film director, considered one of the most important figures in the history of the Australian film industry.-Early years:...
saw potential in the program. After continued bad reviews its popularity increased in Sydney. By July 1960 it had reached its twenty-fifth episode and had the highest ratings in Australia.
Later in 1960 Kennedy faced opposition when Sir Frank Packer bought GTV-9. Unlike the previous owner, Packer interfered directly with the station's activities. GTV-9 executive Colin Bednall reported that Packer hated Kennedy and forcefully articulated his desire to have him removed from the IMT.
- "Packer had a phobia about homosexuals and he believed Kennedy to be one. He insisted he could pick one a mile off."
Kennedy himself was aware that Packer "loathed" him:
- "Sir Frank did suspect that I and others were of that persuasion. I mean if everyone in the television industry was fired because of that, there would be few around! [...] I've been accused of everything. I've been accused of being homosexual, bisexual, heterosexual and worst of all asexual, which means you don't do anything. That's cruel."
Packer's arrival prompted the departure of IMT producer Norman Spencer. IMT continued its run. Other regular performers on IMT were Patti Newton
Patti Newton
Patti Newton is a Melbourne-born Australian entertainer and radio and television presenter.-Career:...
and Philip Brady
Philip Brady (broadcaster)
Philip Brady is an Australian media personality.Born in Melbourne, Brady was involved in the early days of television. He left school at the age of 18 and started working as a booth announcer at Channel Nine in 1958....
. In 1961 Kennedy described his presentation of the program.
- "In the whole of the ten years I have been working on radio and television, I have been working to a majority of women. I think women prefer men to be well-mannered, so I always try to watch my manners. They like men to be well dressed, so I do my best to observe this. Others bring to my notice the fact that I sometimes make grammatical errors in my speech; so, because of this, I try to watch my grammar – but at the same time I bear in mind that it's more profitable for me to be entertaining than to be perfect in my use of English."
By March 1961 the national show had been renamed Graham Kennedy's Channel 9 Show and was finding quiet acceptance nationally. Even at this time Kennedy admitted there were problems in the weekly national show.
- "We clam up and get tense. But I think the national show will improve in the next few weeks. We want to include the best segments of IMT in the national show. IMT is a lot more spontaneous than the national show – we've run up to an hour overtime. We like to get the audience to participate and if we can find someone interesting in the studio audience we throw away our scripts and just adlib.
Kennedy by this stage did not always host IMT. Bert Newton hosted on Monday nights. Then a September 1961 reshuffle had Toni Lamond host Monday nights and Newton hosted only on Thursday nights. Kennedy took occasional nights off to be replaced by Frederick Parslow, Jimmy Hannan
Jimmy Hannan
Jimmy Hannan is a retired Australian variety show host, singer and entertainer. Hannan won the 1965 Gold Logie award.One of his daughters is Melissa Hannan who won the Miss Australia title in 1981 and was also in the Miss World competition held in London.-Filmography:*The Sentimental Bloke *Jimmy...
, and Philip Brady. Despite resistance from network executives to the varied hosting line-up, the ratings remained strong.
In January 1962 the national Graham Kennedy's Channel 9 Show was cancelled and replaced by The Channel 9 Show hosted by Bert Newton. Kennedy continued to fine-tune his IMT performances. Kennedy had a strong understanding of key technical elements of television and perfected his comic timing, and watched the lenses on the TV cameras, adjusting his performance depending on whether he was in a wide shot or a close up. Compilation highlight programs of IMT segments were screened in Sydney, Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide in May 1963 under the title The Best of Kennedy. The Best of Kennedy continued until December 1963. On IMT, Noel Ferrier
Noel Ferrier
Noel Ferrier AM was an Australian television personality, stage and film actor, raconteur and theatrical producer. He had an extensive theatre career which spanned over fifty years.-Biography:...
was appointed the new Friday night host. Also in 1963 writer Mike McColl-Jones
Mike McColl-Jones
Mike McColl-Jones is a veteran comedy writer for Australian television. He wrote for Graham Kennedy, Don Lane and Bert Newton.McColl-Jones is the author of "My Funny Friends" and Graham Kennedy Treasures: Friends Remember The King-References:...
joined. Kennedy had often disliked having writers on the program, was reluctant for them to be publicly acknowledged, and often ignored all their material. In the case of McColl-Jones, Kennedy seemed to like him and his comedy material, which was apparently the key requirement by which Kennedy would use a writer's material. McColl-Jones continued as a writer on the series for several years. Also in 1963 Ernie Carroll
Ernie Carroll
Ernie Carroll is an Australian entertainer and television personality most recognised for his role as the man behind Ossie Ostrich on Hey Hey It's Saturday....
joined the writing team. Kennedy had apparently relaxed his attitude towards writers by this stage and seemed happy to use their material with few complaints.
In 1964 Bert Newton abruptly disappeared from the program. It was not publicly acknowledged at the time but he had suffered a nervous breakdown. After a long absence he returned to appear on the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evening episodes. On 14 June 1965 IMT reached its 2,000th installment and more people watched the show per capita then any other television program in the world.
By this stage Frederick Parslow was well established on the program's writing team and was a confidante of Kennedy's.
Don Lane
Don Lane , born Morton Donald Isaacson, was an American-born talk show host and singer. Don Lane is best known for hosting The Don Lane Show, which was aired on The Nine Network in Australia from 1975 to 1983....
, the host of Sydney Tonight, via the recently completed co-axial cable linking Melbourne and Sydney. Starting late September 1966, IMT itself would be transmitted in Sydney via the co-axial cable. This coincided with a cameo in the film They're a Weird Mob in which Kennedy plays himself. Like the film's protagonist, Kennedy in the film finds Sydney to be a city somewhat unwelcoming towards migrants from anywhere. By early December 1966 ratings for Kennedy's show were strong in Sydney. There was an increase from one IMT episode a week in Sydney, to two, with a Monday night broadcast added that month.
By 1968 there was a regular roster of IMT guest hosts, including Bert Newton, Tim Evans, Bobby Limb
Bobby Limb
Bobby Limb AO OBE was an Australian pioneering radio and television entertainer of the 1960s and 1970s.-Career:...
, Don Lane
Don Lane
Don Lane , born Morton Donald Isaacson, was an American-born talk show host and singer. Don Lane is best known for hosting The Don Lane Show, which was aired on The Nine Network in Australia from 1975 to 1983....
, Kevin Sanders, and Michael Preston
Michael Preston
Michael Preston is an international film and television actor, sometimes credited as Mike Preston.-Career:...
. The announcement of Kennedy's intention to leave IMT was made in October 1969 and he left the show on the expiration of his contract 23 December 1969. His final episode features newsreader Sir Eric Pearce placing on his head a crown made by the Channel Nine prop department in the style of that worn by Henry IV
Henry IV of England
Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke...
, symbolising Kennedy's reign as King of Australian television.
In 2007, the crown (which a private collector had recognised at a junk store in Bowral NSW, and purchased for $5) was auctioned for more than $17,000 to a producer of the Seven Network's Sunrise
Sunrise (TV program)
Sunrise is an Australian breakfast television program, broadcast on the Seven Network. On weekdays the programme follows Seven Early News, and runs from 6am through to 9am.-History:...
programme.
Comedic style
Kennedy deliberately pushed the boundaries of acceptability in a staid era. Inspired by stage comedians such as Roy ReneRoy Rene
Roy Rene , born Harry van der Sluys, was an Australian comedian and vaudevillian. As the bawdy character Mo McCackie, Rene was one of the most well-known and successful Australian comedians of the 20th century. Roy Rene was born in Adelaide in the 15 of February 1892 with the name Harry van der...
, his style was bawdy, irreverent, iconoclastic, often smutty, sometimes deliberately camp
Camp (style)
Camp is an aesthetic sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its taste and ironic value. The concept is closely related to kitsch, and things with camp appeal may also be described as being "cheesy"...
, and laden with innuendo
Innuendo
An innuendo is a baseless invention of thoughts or ideas. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging , that works obliquely by allusion...
and double-entendre. He regularly overstepped the boundaries of accepted "good taste", once telling a fan "There are no limits, love, there are no limits."
Journalist Megan Gressor described Kennedy's style as having "... mongrel roots — a hybrid of vaudeville, slapstick and endless suggestiveness, plus a subliminal subversiveness all his own. It seems almost pantomimic to modern eyes, but Kennedy was a product of simpler times. And more complex. His was an act predicated upon repression; naughtiness loses its point in a world without taboos, where anything goes. It wouldn't work today, when people don't just say "fuck" on television, they do it."
Advertisements
Drawing on his radio experience with Nicky (who had routinely "sent up" advertisers), Kennedy transformed the live commercials from what would have otherwise been dull pro-forma obligations into a unique comedic art form. On one famous occasion, a scheduled 20-second ad spot for an aspirin product was spun out into 33 minutes of improvised comedy.Newton has written:
- "The blood would drain from the face of Pelaco shirt-wearing executives in television, advertising and business until they realised that instead of televisual suicide, this skinny little wiseguy was commercial gold. And then they liked his brand of humour a lot."
- "A commercial I shared with Graham, Raoul Merton ('of comfort you're certain when you wear Raoul Merton') changed the footwear buying habits of men."
Sam Chisholm
Gerald StoneGerald Stone
Gerald Louis Stone is an American-born Australian television and radio journalist, television executive and author.-Early years:Raised in Columbus, Ohio, Stone graduated in political science from Cornell University and in 1957 started work as a copy boy for the New York Times.In 1962 he emigrated...
recounts in his book Compulsive Viewing that a "cocky young salesman" visited the IMT set hoping for an extra plug for his employer's product. The young salesman was Sam Chisholm
Sam Chisholm
Sam Chisholm is a media executive born in New Zealand. He was a significant figure in Australian media. He ran Kerry Packer's Nine Network for a significant period during the 1980s before moving to the UK to work for Packer's rival Rupert Murdoch in rescuing the newly established BSkyB from...
, who later became a senior executive for variously the Packer
Kerry Packer
Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer, AC was an Australian media tycoon. The son of Sir Frank Packer and Gretel Bullmore, the Packer family company owned controlling interest in both the Nine television network and leading Australian publishing company Australian Consolidated Press, which were later...
and Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
media empires. A May 2005 interview with Chisholm records:
- Sam Chisholm: I was working for Johnson's wax at the time, and I don't think he believed my ...
- Graham Davis: Sales pitch.
- Sam Chisholm: Assertions about this product. So I said, "I'll go and polish your floors and prove it to you." Which I did.
- Graham Davis: Over at his home?
- Sam Chisholm: Absolutely.
- Graham Davis: You got down on your hands and knees at his home?
- Sam Chisholm: Yep. I started off as his housekeeper and ended up being his boss.
Rover
Kennedy requested a "reject" dog from the Jack DaveyJack Davey
John Andrew Davey was a New Zealand-born star of Australian radio in the 1930s, '40s and '50s.-New Zealand:Jack Davey was born John Andrew Davey on 8 February 1907 and educated at King's College, Auckland...
Memorial Guide Dog Centre and was given a Labrador Retriever
Labrador Retriever
The Labrador Retriever is one of several kinds of retriever, a type of gun dog. A breed characteristic is webbed paws for swimming, useful for the breed's original purpose of retrieving fishing nets. The Labrador is the most popular breed of dog by registered ownership in Canada, the United...
which he named "Rover".
Rover was sometimes brought into the studio to assist with advertisements for Pal dog food. One night the dog showed no interest whatsoever in the product, which Kennedy then himself proceeded to eat with apparent relish, straight from the can – or so it seemed.
Rover also achieved television immortality by relieving himself – live to air – upon one of the huge cameras. The studio audience collapsed in hysterics, but the duration and urgency of Rover's impressively hydraulic performance might have led some cynics to question just how impromptu the event really was.
Biographer Blundell quotes Ernie Carroll:
Pal dog food, with Rover [...] was time consuming [...] once we fed him all afternoon so that when he came out to do the commercial he didn't want to touch the Pal dog food. He was already full of it. [...] on another occasion they had him drink before the show, big drinks. So when he came out, he peed all over the camera and all around the set [...] Even those seemingly innocent dog manoeuvres were carefully planned.
Kennedy was exasperated for decades by questions about "whatever happened to Rover". As late as 1989, on Graham Kennedy's News Hour (see below), he answered a viewer's question couched in exactly those words with the withering reply "... he was a dog. What do you think happened?"
In early June 2005, on the 3AW
3AW
3AW is a talkback radio station in Melbourne, Australia on 693 kHz AM. It began transmission on 22 February 1932 as Melbourne's fifth commercial radio station.-History:...
programme Nightline with Philip Brady and Bruce Mansfield
Bruce Mansfield
-Early career:Mansfield began in radio with stints on stations including 3UZ, 3KZ, 3AW and 3XY in the 1960s. He later moved to television appearing on The Graham Kennedy Show on GTV-9 in the early 1970s...
, Patti (McGrath) Newton stated that her father had often looked after Rover when he appeared at GTV-9. It seems that Kennedy had become increasingly irritated with retrieving Rover from the pound and so, when Patti's father's dog died, Rover went on to a long and happy life at the McGrath (senior) household.
The Graham Kennedy Show
After a special on 2 March 1972, Kennedy returned to regular television with The Graham Kennedy ShowThe Graham Kennedy Show
The Graham Kennedy Show was an Australian talk show that debuted on 19 September 1972, on the Nine Network.On 23 December 1969, host Graham Kennedy has quit as host of In Melbourne Tonight, exhausted, and rested for two years. In spite of his fame and fortune, he later described that period as...
on 19 September 1972. This series lasted until late 1973. In 1974, when Kennedy claimed he wanted a rest, Nine allegedly paid him not to sign with another network. The Graham Kennedy Show resumed in March 1975, and was Kennedy's first series in colour.
Memorable, and controversial, moments, included the "crow call" controversy where, on 5 March 1975, Kennedy imitated a crow call ("faaaaaark") highly reminiscent of the word "fuck
Fuck
"Fuck" is an English word that is generally considered obscene which, in its most literal meaning, refers to the act of sexual intercourse. By extension it may be used to negatively characterize anything that can be dismissed, disdained, defiled, or destroyed."Fuck" can be used as a verb, adverb,...
". This incident led the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal
Australian Communications and Media Authority
The Australian Communications and Media Authority is an Australian government statutory authority within the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy portfolio...
to ban Kennedy from live television, forcing him to pre-record the show on videotape.
Another notable moment was from 17 April 1975, when Kennedy attacked Senator Doug McClelland, the then Minister for the Media, over local content issues. His comments were edited, and a voiceover recorded by the general manager was inserted saying that Kennedy had made a "cowardly attack on a Labor Minister who was unable to defend himself."
Following the McClelland incident, Kennedy parted company with the Nine Network, but later returned.
Power Without Glory
Kennedy appeared as Clive Parker in an episode of the 26-part ABC drama Power Without GloryPower Without Glory
Power Without Glory is a 1950 novel written by Australian writer Frank Hardy. It was later adapted into a mini-series by the Australian Broadcasting Commission .- Publication :...
, which began on 21 June 1976.
Blankety Blanks
He returned to television in 1977 for what is now Network TenNetwork Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
to host a comedy game show, Blankety Blanks
Blankety Blanks
Blankety Blanks was a popular Australian game show based on the American game show Match Game. It was hosted by Graham Kennedy on Network Ten. It ran from 1977-1978.Regular panelists were Ugly Dave Gray, Noeline Brown, Carol Raye and Stuart Wagstaff...
. It dominated early evening television over two seasons, between 7 February 1977 and 15 September 1978. The show featured friends from his earlier days including Noeline Brown
Noeline Brown
Noeline Brown is an Australian actor and comedian. She has appeared in many films, television shows, plays and radio programs....
, Barry Creyton
Barry Creyton
Barry Creyton is an Australian actor and playwright.Creyton began his professional career in radio and revue in Melbourne, in Australia and became well-known in Sydney starring in and writing popular comedy-melodramas at the Music Hall theatre-restaurant in Neutral Bay...
, Noel Ferrier
Noel Ferrier
Noel Ferrier AM was an Australian television personality, stage and film actor, raconteur and theatrical producer. He had an extensive theatre career which spanned over fifty years.-Biography:...
, Ugly Dave Gray
Ugly Dave Gray
Ugly Dave Gray is an Australian television personality.-Career:Gray was a regular panellist on Graham Kennedy's Blankety Blanks in 1977-1978. He had earlier taken a straight dramatic role as publican Bunny Howard in the early episodes of soap opera The Young Doctors in 1976...
, Carol Raye
Carol Raye
Carol Raye is an Australian-based theatre and television actress and comedienne.Trained as a ballet dancer, Raye was discovered by choreographer Freddie Carpenter at age 16. She played lead roles in many musicals and television programs in the UK...
and Stuart Wagstaff
Stuart Wagstaff
Stuart Wagstaff AM is an Australian television and stage entertainer.- Early life :Wagstaff was born in Great Durnford, Wiltshire, England, and grew up on a farm with his parents and two older sisters. His father was very strict and emotionally abusive, and he received little affection from his...
.
In 1979, "The King" became King of Moomba
Moomba
Moomba is Australia's largest free community festival and one of the longest running festivals in Australia. Held annually in the city of Melbourne, Australia, Moomba is celebrated during the Labour Day long weekend , and has been celebrated since 1955...
complete with his famous motorised desk, the second Melbourne-born recipient after Newton
Bert Newton
Albert Watson "Bert" Newton, AM, MBE is an Australian television personality, known for hosting television series such as In Melbourne Tonight, Good Morning Australia and 20 to 1. Newton has also hosted the Logie Awards on numerous occasions through his career.-Early life:Newton was born in...
.
The Blainey View
In 1982 Kennedy provided the voice-over narration for a ten-episode ABC historical documentary The Blainey View.Eleven AM
Kennedy appeared as the host of Channel Seven's morning news program Eleven AM in 1983 and again – for eight weeks – in 1984.Graham Kennedy's News Show
Nearly 60, Kennedy accepted an offer from the Nine Network's managing director Sam Chisholm to present Graham Kennedy's News Show from Sydney, to air five nights a week at 10:30 p.m. against Clive Robertson's Newsworld on the Seven Network. Five trial programmes were recorded but never broadcast.Kennedy initially "pulled the plug" and withdrew from the show but returned (see Harry M. Miller, below). Kennedy's contract stipulated that his co-presenter would be sports commentator Ken Sutcliffe
Ken Sutcliffe
Ken Sutcliffe is a popular sporting television personality, born in Oberon, New South Wales but lived most of his growing up days in Mudgee. Also known as the "Male Model from Mudgee" and "Ken Withsport".-Career:...
.
Kennedy's writers, who worked from a production cottage at the corner of Scott Street and Artarmon Road included Jim Pike, Tim Evans, Larry Burns, and Ken Stirling. Blundell records:
"They worked in the back room shooting out gags over typewriters and word processors, united in their hatred of the 'The Little Guy' as they also called him.""
The writers also referred to Kennedy as "the little buggle-eyed bastard",. However, they admired his talent. Jim Pike said, ".. I hate him, but he is the best there is".
Kennedy defied convention with remarks which were tasteless, and yet hilarious. Pointing out the irony of how a news show gets good ratings he said it would be helpful for his show's ratings if the Pope's aircraft were to fly into a mountain while it was full of orphans. He also remarked that Queen Elizabeth II "didn't have bad breasts ... for a woman of her age" and mocked the 17 October 1989, San Francisco Loma Prieta earthquake with a re-creation on the set.
After a slightly heavy woman was caught for streaking at a cricket match, Graham explained on air that they would run the footage but had to cover certain offending parts of her body with black. The clip he played was all black, except for a single spot that revealed her pubic hair.
He also reprised the "Chum Song" from Melbourne radio days, saying that it originated in a 1920s children's newspaper column in Scotland. In Nancy Lee's book Being a Chum Was Fun she writes:
The Chum Song, I believe, was written and recorded originally by Jack Hilton for a Scottish Newsboys Club.
The lyrics of the chorus are:
- Being a chum is fun,
- That is why I'm one;
- Always smiling, always gay,
- Chummy at work,
- (and) chummy at play -
- Laugh away your worries,
- Don't be sad or glum;
- And everyone will know that you're a
- Chum, chum, chum!
Sutcliffe would "corpse", with tears in his eyes, unable to continue; this became so frequent that Kennedy managed to coin a catchphrase, "I love it when he cries".
Kennedy called Sutcliffe "Two Dogs" after delivering a joke ending with the tag "Why do you ask, Two Dogs Rooting?"
Graham Kennedy's News Show was a rarity in that it was a live news show that had a studio audience. Five nights a week for most of the year, audiences lined up at 10:30 at night just to see Kennedy do his magic in the flesh. Often the funniest parts of the show were in the commercial breaks when Kennedy would come down and join the audience for a chat. He always made a point of telling them a particularly crude joke that was timed so they got the punchline just a second before the show was back on air.
Coast to Coast
On 13 February 1989 the show became Coast to Coast, with Nine journalist John Mangos replacing Sutcliffe[384], and ran until 8 December 1989.Harry M. Miller
Kennedy engaged Harry M. MillerHarry M. Miller
-Early career:Born in New Zealand, Miller grew up in Grey Lynn, Auckland, and moved to Australia in 1963, where he established a company called Pan Pacific Productions with Keith and Dennis Wong, owners of the noted Sydney nightclub "Chequers"...
as his agent. According to biographer Blundell, Kennedy believed that Miller was to donate his commission of $2500 per week to the Wayside Chapel
Wayside Chapel
The Wayside Chapel is a ministry in the Kings Cross/Potts Point area of Sydney, Australia.-Description and history:The Wayside Chapel was established in the Kings Cross area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia in 1964. Ted Noffs was the founder of the Wayside Chapel, which was at the time a...
for Kennedy's appearance on Graham Kennedy's News Show.
Miller later sued Kennedy for "wrongful termination and for a 20 per cent commission on his 1989 gross earnings." During the court case Miller "painted a picture of his client of twenty years as a late-night drunk in the habit of sending demanding faxes while under the influence." Justice Brownie found against Miller, and ordered him to pay $75,699 and costs.
Graham Kennedy's Funniest Home Videos
Kennedy's last series was Graham Kennedy's Funniest Home Video ShowAustralia's Funniest Home Video Show
Australia's Funniest Home Videos is an Australian television show on the Nine Network that presents home videos sent in by viewers.The show is similar in content to You've Been Framed and America's Funniest Home Videos,...
which was broadcast between 29 March and 15 November 1990 on the Nine Network.
35 Years of Television
Kennedy presented the introduction segment to the Nine NetworkNine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
special 35 Years of Television in 1991. The segment covered the very early days of television variety, including his own In Melbourne Tonight.
Last television appearance
Kennedy's last television appearance was in February 1994 in an interview for Ray Martin Presents Graham Kennedy's Sixtieth. Believing that MartinRay Martin (television presenter)
Raymond George "Ray" Martin AM is an Australian television journalist. He is best known for his various on-air roles on Channel Nine from 1978 to 2008. In 2011 he returned to 60 Minutes....
had ambushed him by departing from a pre-agreed list of questions, Kennedy ensured that much of the interview was unusable for broadcast by peppering his responses with obscenities.
In 2005 John Mangos wrote:
"He (Kennedy) later explained the experience in a piece for TV WeekTV WeekTV Week is a weekly television magazine in Australia, first published as a Melbourne-only publication in December 1957 , and bearing a strong affiliation to television station GTV.The publication is still publishing weekly...
in an article called 'In his own words'.
Ray Martin and I had worked together before, and he well knows that if I have the questions in advance, he'll get a better interview. Everyone knows this – politicians in particular. Ray duly faxed the questions to me, but on the morning of the recording changed them. I was bewildered by this (I think a researcher let him down). I terminated the interview when I didn't know what he was talking about and went upstairs to lunch.
It was a critical turning point in his career. He vowed never to do television again."
Ray Martin denied any ill intent, saying "We faxed a series of general topics, but it was clear at the outset that much would depend on the general run of the interview [...] An ambush was not on the agenda [...] He had no complaints. There was never a suggestion that he was unhappy."
Logie awards
Graham Kennedy coined the name Logie AwardLogie Award
The TV Week Logie Awards are the Australian television industry awards, which have been presented annually since 1959. Renamed by Graham Kennedy in 1960 after he won the first 'Star Of The Year' award, the name 'Logie' awards honours John Logie Baird, a Scotsman who invented the television as a...
in 1960, after the inventor of television, John Logie Baird
John Logie Baird
John Logie Baird FRSE was a Scottish engineer and inventor of the world's first practical, publicly demonstrated television system, and also the world's first fully electronic colour television tube...
.
Kennedy received many Logies, including:
- 5 Gold LogieGold Logie Award for Most Popular Personality on Australian TelevisionThe Gold Logie Award has been awarded annually to the Most Popular Personality on Australian Television at the TV Week Logie Awards since 1960...
s for the Most Popular Personality on Australian Television (1960, 1967, 1969, 1974, and 1978).- He also won the "TV Week Awards' Star Of The Year" award at the inaugural presentation in 1959, and this is sometimes counted as his first Gold Logie, which would give him 6 in total
- a Special Logie Award – the Star of the Decade in 1967
- a Hall of Fame Logie Award in 1998. He did not attend the ceremony; the award was accepted on his behalf by Bert Newton.
Film career
Kennedy appeared in a number of films, ranging from brief cameos to leading roles. They include:- They're a Weird Mob (1966) (cameo as himself)
- The Box (1975) (supporting role as himself)
- Don's PartyDon's PartyDon's Party is a 1971 play by David Williamson set during the 1969 Australian federal election. The film based on the play was entered into the 27th Berlin International Film Festival.-Plot:...
(1976) - The Odd Angry ShotThe Odd Angry ShotBased on the novel of the same name by William L. Nagle, The Odd Angry Shot is a film following the experience of Australian soldiers during the Vietnam War...
(1979) - The ClubThe Club (play)The Club is a satirical play by Australian playwright David Williamson, that follows the fortunes of a football club over the course of a season. It explores the clashes between "human loyalty versus materialistic gain". It was inspired by the backroom dealings and antics of the Victorian Football...
(1980) - Silent Reach (1982) (telemovie)
- The Return of Captain InvincibleThe Return Of Captain InvincibleThe Return of Captain Invincible is a 1983 Australian musical comedy and superhero film starring Alan Arkin and Christopher Lee.-Plot:The plot involves the Captain America/Superman inspired super-hero called "Captain Invincible" who is active during World War II and afterwards...
(1982) (cameo) - The Killing FieldsThe Killing Fields (film)The Killing Fields is a 1984 British drama film about the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, which is based on the experiences of two journalists: Cambodian Dith Pran and American Sydney Schanberg. The film, which won three Academy Awards, was directed by Roland Joffé and stars Sam Waterston as...
(1983) - Stanley (1983)
- Travelling NorthTravelling NorthTravelling North is a 1987 film directed by Carl Schultz.An aged couple decide to move from Melbourne to Queensland.-Play:The David Williamson play Travelling North premiered in 1979, the year that Williamson moved from Melbourne to Sydney...
(1987)
He also had a cameo in On the Beach
On the Beach (1959 film)
On the Beach is a post-apocalyptic drama film based on Nevil Shute's 1957 novel of the same name. The film features Gregory Peck , Ava Gardner , Fred Astaire and Anthony Perkins...
(1959) which was not used.
Personal life
Being a period of that era of the 1950's I think being Gay must have been pretty harsh for Graham. I can imagine...everybody knew, nobody cared, but I think it was such a time when you didn't talk about issues that were personal, and I think that made him much more secretive and reclusive, and I think that was probably quite a tough thing for him... — Susan Gaye Anderson
Kennedy's homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
was considered an open secret to many in the Australian entertainment industry, although Kennedy himself never publicly acknowledged that he was gay.
In the 1960s Bob Dyer
Bob Dyer
Robert "Bob" Dies OBE , who took the stage name of Bob Dyer, was an American-born vaudeville entertainer, radio personality, and radio and television quiz show host who made his name in Australia. Dyer is best known for the long-running radio and then television quiz show, Pick a Box...
described him as "probably the loneliest young man in Australia."
In 1973 Melbourne newspapers reported that Kennedy was engaged to 28-year-old American singer Lana Cantrell
Lana Cantrell
Lana Eleanor Cantrell AM is an Australian-American singer and entertainment lawyer. She was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in the Grammy Awards of 1968.-Music career:...
(born 7 August 1943), who became a successful New York lawyer.
Many years later, Kennedy wrote to a newspaper that a photographer, taking pictures of Miss Cantrell and him leaving a restaurant together asked if he could "hint at a romance". The following Sunday a poster proclaimed "GRAHAM AND LANA TO WED". His former housekeeper, Mrs Devona Fox, in the 2009 television documentary The Real Graham Kennedy, produced by Bob Phillips, one of the producers from Kennedy's break-thru Channel 9 program In Melbourne Tonight
In Melbourne Tonight
In Melbourne Tonight, also known as "IMT", was a highly popular nightly variety television show produced at GTV-9 Melbourne from 6 May 1957 to 1970....
, is quoted as saying:
Graham always told me right early on that he would never get married. He told me that his life was devastated when his parents split up, and he said straight out, "Mrs Fox, I'll never get married", so I never expected anything more of him than what did happen. Even when Lana Cantrell came into the scene I was puzzled and I did say to him why all this, and of course we all know it was good publicity. Lana came to the house and I had to go up, and have it all cleaned, ready for her and her party to come one Sunday night. And then on the Monday night, this great big announcement was going to be made that he was supposed to be engaged to Lana Cantrell. well the ratings went through the roof...
In his 2006 book King and I: My Life With Graham Kennedy broadcaster Rob Astbury
Rob Astbury
Rob Astbury is a former Australian television sports journalist who was once Australia's highest paid TV sports presenter and is more recently known for being the ex-lover of variety show legend Graham Kennedy...
stated that he and Kennedy had been lovers. Kennedy is portrayed as homosexual in the 2007 biopic The King
The King (2007 film)
The King: The Story of Graham Kennedy is an Australian telemovie examining the life of Australian entertainer Graham Kennedy.Produced in Australia by the Sydney based independent production company Crackerjack Productions for TV1 and the Nine Network, The King was first shown on 20 May 2007 on TV1...
.
Retirement
In 1991 Kennedy retired to a rural property at CanyonleighCanyonleigh, New South Wales
Canyonleigh is a small town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in Wingecarribee Shire. In 2006, the town had a population of 292 people. Canyan Leigh was named by Mrs Jane Murray who took up a property between Paddys River and Long Swamp...
, near Bowral in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, near to his friends Tony Sattler and Noeline Brown
Noeline Brown
Noeline Brown is an Australian actor and comedian. She has appeared in many films, television shows, plays and radio programs....
, where his main companions were two Clydesdale
Clydesdale
Clydesdale was formerly one of nineteen local government districts in the Strathclyde region of Scotland.The district was formed by the Local Government Act 1973 from part of the former county of Lanarkshire: namely the burghs of Biggar and Lanark and the First, Second and Third Districts...
horses named Dave and Sarah, and Henry, a Golden Retriever
Golden Retriever
The Golden Retriever is a medium-sized breed of dog. They were historically developed as gundogs to retrieve shot waterfowl such as ducks and upland game birds during hunting and shooting parties. As such, they were bred to have a soft mouth to retrieve game undamaged and have an instinctive love...
.
Ill-health
Kennedy's health declined during the 1990s. He was diabetic, and a heavy smoker and drinker. Throughout his illnesses, his friends Tony Sattler and Noeline Brown rallied to his aid.On 18 December 2001 his housekeeper found him unconscious and dehydrated. Sattler said "Between the diabetes and the booze, there's not much left of him", adding that the death of Kennedy's dog Henry was "the final trigger".
On 14 June 2002 Kennedy was found unconscious at the foot of the stairs at his home, suffering a broken leg and skull with suspected brain damage.
His Canyonleigh property was sold, and he moved into a townhouse and later a nursing home.
Benefactor
Despite a career of high earnings, press reports said that his financial situation was, while not disastrous, insufficient to fund his ongoing care. Having made millions for the Packer family interests, he believed that "the Packers will always look after me".According to Graeme Blundell
Graeme Blundell
Graeme Blundell is an Australian actor, director, producer, writer and biographer.Blundell was born in Melbourne; he grew up in Clifton Hill, a suburb of Melbourne...
's biography, Tony Sattler:
On 27 May 2005, Noeline Brown confirmed that the benefactor was Sam Chisholm
Sam Chisholm
Sam Chisholm is a media executive born in New Zealand. He was a significant figure in Australian media. He ran Kerry Packer's Nine Network for a significant period during the 1980s before moving to the UK to work for Packer's rival Rupert Murdoch in rescuing the newly established BSkyB from...
.
However, Kennedy's will reportedly left a seven-figure sum to the Sydney City Mission
Mission Australia
Mission Australia is a provider of family and community services throughout Australia. The organisation has at least 3200 staff, 1,000 volunteers and 300 services in every state and territory of Australia, and is one of the largest community organisations in the nation. It is currently headed by...
.
Decline
On 2 February 2004, The Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph (Australia)
The Daily Telegraph is an Australian tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, by Nationwide News, part of News Corporation.The Tele, as it is also known, was founded in 1879. From 1936 to 1972, it was owned by Frank Packer's Australian Consolidated Press. That year it was sold to...
said:
The king of Australian TV Graham Kennedy will celebrate his 70th birthday next weekend with a few close friends. The low-key affair is expected to be at the Kenilworth Nursing Home at Bowral where Kennedy has lived since taking a nasty tumble a few years ago. Physically he's not in terrific shape. He can't walk any more and gets around in a wheelchair as a result of the diabetes and the years of heavy smoking.
Actor Graeme Blundell, who had worked with Kennedy on the movie The Odd Angry Shot, published a biography of Kennedy, King: The Life and Comedy of Graham Kennedy (McMillan, 2003). A newspaper report stated that Kennedy "passed on his best wishes but declined to be involved 'for no particular reason [...] other than he believes he has a limited memory of many of the facts of his life'." The book, which was completed before Kennedy's death, ends with "Graham read them [chapters of an early draft] ... asked if he wished to read any more, 'No', Graham Kennedy said. 'I know how it ends."
In 2001 Kennedy's friend and Coast to Coast colleague, John Mangos, was reported as saying:
I can say to his beloved fans that they won't see Graham again. He won't appear publicly again; he is in his twilight. He has made a personal decision to disappear quietly into the sunset.
Death
At 4:30am on 25 May 2005, Kennedy died at age 71 at the Kenilworth Nursing Home, Bowral, from complications from pneumoniaPneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
.
John Mangos wrote in The Bulletin:
- "
He also wrote:
- "I was often asked if he had cancer or AIDS. In fact at 67, he had diabetes, some rheumatism, the odd creaky joint, a healthy capacity to whinge and the usual symptoms connected with smoking and drinking. But by now the horses were gone and the dog had died. He was eating less and drinking more. One night, he fell down the stairs. He was discovered the next morning on the floor by his housekeeper. He was rushed to the local hospital where pneumonia in one lung was treated effectively and efficiently, a fracture near his hip was repaired and he was diagnosed with brain damage. We were to learn he had Korsakoff's syndrome (an alcohol-related condition) and we decided to keep it private."
Korsakoff's syndrome
Korsakoff's syndrome
Korsakoff's syndrome is a neurological disorder caused by the lack of thiamine in the brain. Its onset is linked to chronic alcohol abuse and/or severe malnutrition...
is a form of amnesia
Amnesia
Amnesia is a condition in which one's memory is lost. The causes of amnesia have traditionally been divided into categories. Memory appears to be stored in several parts of the limbic system of the brain, and any condition that interferes with the function of this system can cause amnesia...
seen in chronic alcoholics; briefly stated, victims eat too little and drink too much.
Hinch controversy
After his death controversial radio broadcaster Derryn HinchDerryn Hinch
Derryn Nigel Hinch is an Australian media personality best known for his work on Melbourne radio. He is currently the host of 3AW's drive time radio show...
alleged that Kennedy had died from an AIDS-related disease. This was strenuously denied by his friends and carers Noeline Brown
Noeline Brown
Noeline Brown is an Australian actor and comedian. She has appeared in many films, television shows, plays and radio programs....
and Tony Sattler, and as a result Kennedy's biographer Graeme Blundell then published Kennedy's medical records, including a recent negative HIV test, to disprove this allegation. Hinch fought back saying he didn't say Kennedy had AIDS, but that he was homosexual, had symptoms similar to those of Kaposi's Sarcoma
Kaposi's sarcoma
Kaposi's sarcoma is a tumor caused by Human herpesvirus 8 , also known as Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus . It was originally described by Moritz Kaposi , a Hungarian dermatologist practicing at the University of Vienna in 1872. It became more widely known as one of the AIDS defining...
, and died of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
, thus implying Kennedy's death was AIDS-related.
Funeral
Tony Sattler offered the Nine NetworkNine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
the right to televise the funeral but it declined, claiming it could not justify the cost of the outside broadcast. The Seven Network
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
accepted, and gave coverage free of charge to the Nine Network. Hence, the one-hour funeral service was aired simultaneously across both Seven and Nine Networks.
Stuart Wagstaff
Stuart Wagstaff
Stuart Wagstaff AM is an Australian television and stage entertainer.- Early life :Wagstaff was born in Great Durnford, Wiltshire, England, and grew up on a farm with his parents and two older sisters. His father was very strict and emotionally abusive, and he received little affection from his...
presented the funeral, which was attended by many of Kennedy's friends, colleagues and associates on the morning of 31 May 2005 in a small community theatre in the town of Mittagong.
Wagstaff's eulogy alluded to the claims made by Derryn Hinch about the cause of Kennedy's death:
Delivering a eulogy for a close friend and for someone who was so much admired is never a happy occasion. Though I must confess I would be quite happy to deliver a eulogy for a certain media personality who's tried the second Kennedy assassination of our time... and failed.
Kennedy had never explicitly stated that he was homosexual, but at his funeral, his friends were at last free to make jokes, in a friendly way.
The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
of 26 June 2005 reported John Mangos as saying that he "knew Kennedy wanted his ashes scattered at sea. And that wish was carried out." This was confirmed in a report in The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
on 2 August 2005 which stated that Kennedy's ashes were scattered in the sea at Kiama attended by a group which included "Noeline Brown, Tony Sattler, John Mangos, Stuart Wagstaff, Kennedy's former housekeeper Sally Baker-Beall and her husband John, and old friends Christine and Nicholas Deeprose."
Legacy
50 Years 50 Shows
50 Years 50 Shows is a television special that marked 50 years of television in Australia. Broadcast on Sunday 25 September 2005 on the Nine Network and hosted by Eddie McGuire, the special counted down the top 50 greatest Australian television programmes....
which counted-down the top 50 Australian TV shows of all time, as decided by ratings data and the opinions of 100 television industry professionals, on the Nine Network on 25 September 2005. Kennedy's In Melbourne Tonight topped the poll, Power Without Glory (15th), Blankety Blanks (20th), and Coast to Coast (42nd).
In the Australia Day
Australia Day
Australia Day is the official national day of Australia...
honours of 26 January 2006, Kennedy was posthumously appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(AO), for "service to the entertainment industry as an actor, comedian and presenter significantly influencing the development of the radio, television and film industries in Australia, and to the community"
. The award was made effective from 5 May 2005.
Telemovie The King
A telemovie examining Kennedy's life titled The KingThe King (2007 film)
The King: The Story of Graham Kennedy is an Australian telemovie examining the life of Australian entertainer Graham Kennedy.Produced in Australia by the Sydney based independent production company Crackerjack Productions for TV1 and the Nine Network, The King was first shown on 20 May 2007 on TV1...
began filming in December 2006. It stars Stephen Curry as Kennedy and Stephen Hall
Stephen Hall
Stephen Charles Hall is an Australian actor and writer.-Television:Halls' career in televisions includes both acting and production duties...
as Bert Newton, with Garry McDonald
Garry McDonald
Garry George McDonald, AO is an Australian stage and screen actor.-Early life and career:McDonald was born in Sydney and was educated at Cranbrook School and National Institute of Dramatic Art....
, Shaun Micallef
Shaun Micallef
Shaun Patrick Micallef is an Australian actor, comedian and writer. After ten years of working in insurance law as a solicitor in Adelaide, Micallef moved to Melbourne to pursue a full-time comedy career in 1993...
, Steve Bisley
Steve Bisley
Steve Bisley is an Australian film and television actor, who attended the National Institute of Dramatic Art .-Acting career:...
, Jane Allsop
Jane Allsop
Jane Claire Allsop is an Australian actress, best known for her role as Jo Parrish on Blue Heelers.-Personal life:...
as Noeline Brown, Beau Brady
Beau Brady
Beau Brady is an Australian actor, best known for his role as Noah Lawson on the drama Home and Away.-Biography:Brady was educated at Oakhill College in Castle Hill, Sydney....
, Leo Taylor as Sir Frank Packer
Frank Packer
Sir Douglas Frank Hewson Packer, KBE , was an Australian media proprietor who controlled Australian Consolidated Press and the Nine Network.-Biography:...
, and Bernard Curry as John Wesley.
The project, which cost $2.1 million, premiered on 20 May 2007 on TV1 (becoming the highest-rating drama to be shown on pay-TV) to heavy criticism by Kennedy's friends. Tony Sattler and his wife, actress Noeline Brown, Kennedy's closest friends, said they were mortified by the movie. "The film was obsessed with his homosexuality. I don't think people cared about that....He was Australia's most famous, successful entertainer but how much do we see of that in the film? We see fuck all of it." The Nine Network screened the film on 27 August 2007 .
External links
- Graham Kennedy biography (ABC)
- ABC news obituary including video and audio links
- http://colsearch.nfsa.afc.gov.au/nfsa/search/summary/summary.w3p;adv=yes;group=;groupequals=;page=0;parentid=;query=Number%3A354114%20|%20Number%3A351576%20|%20Number%3A353394%20|%20Number%3A352813%20|%20Number%3A355040%20|%20Number%3A351927%20|%20Number%3A352336%20|%20Number%3A351271%20|%20Number%3A350997%20|%20Number%3A350755%20|%20Number%3A350340%20|%20Number%3A373422%20|%20Number%3A428869%20|%20Number%3A428881%20|%20Number%3A428873%20|%20Number%3A428880;querytype=;resCount=10Graham Kennedy at the National Film and Sound Archive]
- Laughterlog.com – Biography with list of radio, television and film appearances
- Vale Graham Kennedy – includes rare early recordings of Whitta with Kennedy
- Blainey – The first inhabitants – Kennedy voiceover
- Blainey – Bush medicine – Kennedy voiceover