Ita Buttrose
Encyclopedia
Ita Clare Buttrose, AO
, OBE
(born 17 January 1942) is an Australian journalist and businesswoman. She was the founding editor of Cleo
, a high-circulation magazine aimed at women aged 20 to 40 that was ground-breakingly frank about sexuality (and, in its infancy, featured nude male centrefolds), and later as the editor of the more sedate Australian Women's Weekly
. She is the youngest person to ever be appointed editor of the Weekly, which was then per capita, the largest-selling magazine in the world.
Buttrose's father Charles was a journalist and at one time was editor of the Sydney Daily Mirror. By her own account she had decided on a career in journalism at the age of 11. Buttrose spent her first five years in New York City
when her father was the New York correspondent for the Mirror. The family returned to Australia in 1949 and settled in the harbourside suburb of Parsley Bay. Her parents divorced during her teens, after 25 years of marriage, and details of her father's private life were printed in the tabloid press, causing considerable anguish to her mother. Buttrose briefly attended a private school but because her father couldn't afford the fees she was then moved to a public school. She completed her secondary education at Dover Heights Home Science High School, leaving at 15 to begin her career. She started her career at Australian Consolidated Press
, owned by the Packer family, working as a copy girl at the Australian Women's Weekly
, then became a cadet journalist on The Daily Telegraph
and The Sunday Telegraph
in Sydney. Her first byline came in 1959 when the 17-year-old covered the Australian tour by Princess Alexandra
.
in Montreal. Buttrose and Mac then stopped in England in 1967 where she worked for a time on the British national magazine Woman's Own
before giving birth to her first child, a daughter, Kate. It was after her daughter's birth that she received a telegram from Sir Frank Packer, head of Australian Consolidated Press, offering her back her former job as women's editor at the Telegraph. The family then returned to Australia.
In 1971 Buttrose was chosen as founding editor of a new ACP women's magazine. This was originally to have been an Australian edition of the renowned American magazine Cosmopolitan
, but the deal fell through after Hearst
Magazines sold the Cosmopolitan rights to longtime Packer rivals Fairfax
, so Packer and Buttrose set about creating a new publication, dubbed Cleo
, which they launched in 1972, several months ahead of its rival. Cleo was an instant hit, selling its entire original print run in just two days; the magazine broke new ground in Australian mainstream publishing, featuring the first nude male centrefold (actor Jack Thompson
) and frank articles on female sexuality and other topics, leading to the inclusion of the first sealed section in an Australian magazine. During the early months of the magazine, Buttrose became pregnant with her second child, Ben, but with the grudging support of the Packers she worked through her pregnancy, an unusual feat for that time, when it was still common for women to have to give up work permanently after they became pregnant.
Buttrose edited Cleo until 1975, when she was appointed editor of the Packers' flagship magazine, the Australian Women's Weekly (1975–6), then she became editor-in-chief of both publications from 1976–78, before being appointed Publisher of Australian Consolidated Press Women's Division from 1978–81. In 1981 she left the Packers after their rival Rupert Murdoch
offered her the job of Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph in 1981, making her the first female editor of a major metropolitan newspaper in Australia, a position she held until 1984; she was also appointed to the board of News Limited
. She made frequent appearances on radio and TV and in 1980, her media prominence led to her becoming the subject of the song "Ita", recorded by rock band Cold Chisel
, which was included on their successful East
album.
While editing the Women's Weekly Buttrose's first marriage broke down, and the couple divorced in 1976. Later she met Peter Sawyer, and they married in 1979. By her own account it was "not a very happy marriage"; Sawyer left in 1980 and they subsequently divorced.
In his 2007 book Who Killed Channel Nine?, former Nine Network producer Gerald Stone
claimed that Buttrose and Packer conducted a private but intense affair during Buttrose's tenure on Cleo, and that Packer reportedly even offered to marry her, but she rejected the idea, and they split after a "blazing row". Buttrose herself has repeatedly declined to comment on the matter.
Buttrose was the chairperson of the National Advisory Committee on AIDS (NACAIDS) from 1984 until 1988. On one occasion, she appeared personally in a nationwide TV campaign to explain that donating blood at a blood bank did not pose a risk of catching AIDS (the fear of which had caused a significant drop in donations).
Instantly recognisable by her slight lisp, cultured mode of speech and immaculate appearance, Buttrose became a household name in the 1970s and 1980s, and she was frequently parodied by Australian TV comedians including Paul Hogan and Jane Turner. After her stint with News Limited, Buttrose founded her own publishing company, Capricorn Publishing, and launched her own magazine, Ita, but this eventually folded, and she launched a new company, The Good Life Publishing Company, which in 2005 published bark!, a lifestyle magazine aimed at dog owners.
She was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1979, and became an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1988. In 2003, Buttrose was awarded the Centenary Medal
. Among her many other public service and charitable activities, Buttrose is a patron of Women of Vision, World Vision Australia, The University of Third Age, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation of Australia, Amarant, the National Menopause Foundation, the Sydney Women's Festival, Safety House and the National Institute of Secretaries and Administrators. In 1984 she was named the Variety Club 'Personality of the Year' as well as winning the Australasian Academy of Broadcast, Arts and Sciences for the 'Most Promising Newcomer to Radio'. In 1993 Buttrose was named Juvenile Diabetes Foundation's 'Australian of the Year'. In 2011 she was elected President of Alzheimer's Australia.
Among other roles, Buttrose currently works on the professional speakers' circuit, and is associated with the Ovation Channel.
Buttrose is also a prolific author and has published nine books, including her autobiography, A Passionate Life. In 2011 Penguin published A Guide to Australian Etiquette.
In April 2011, Buttrose and Cleo were the subject of the ABC-TV
two-part telemovie Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo
, starring Asher Keddie
as Buttrose, Rob Carlton
as Kerry Packer and Tony Barry
as Frank Packer.
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"...
, OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 17 January 1942) is an Australian journalist and businesswoman. She was the founding editor of Cleo
Cleo (magazine)
CLEO is an Australian, New Zealand, South African, Malaysian, Singaporean, Thailand and Indonesian women's magazine.Aimed at an older audience than the teenage-focused Dolly, the magazine is known for its CLEO Bachelor of the Year award....
, a high-circulation magazine aimed at women aged 20 to 40 that was ground-breakingly frank about sexuality (and, in its infancy, featured nude male centrefolds), and later as the editor of the more sedate Australian Women's Weekly
Australian Women's Weekly
The Australian Women's Weekly is an Australian monthly women's magazine published by ACP Magazines, a division of PBL Media based in Sydney. Audited circulation in 2009 exceeded 500,000 copies monthly, making it the largest magazine in Australia.-History:...
. She is the youngest person to ever be appointed editor of the Weekly, which was then per capita, the largest-selling magazine in the world.
Early life
Ita Buttrose was born at Potts Point, New South Wales, and named after her maternal grandmother, Ita Clare Rodgers (née Rosenthal). Buttrose was raised as a Catholic, although one of her great-grandfathers was Jewish, Montague Rosenthal, the son of an immigrant who arrived from Germany in Australia in 1852; Montague married Buttrose's Catholic great-grandmother.Buttrose's father Charles was a journalist and at one time was editor of the Sydney Daily Mirror. By her own account she had decided on a career in journalism at the age of 11. Buttrose spent her first five years in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
when her father was the New York correspondent for the Mirror. The family returned to Australia in 1949 and settled in the harbourside suburb of Parsley Bay. Her parents divorced during her teens, after 25 years of marriage, and details of her father's private life were printed in the tabloid press, causing considerable anguish to her mother. Buttrose briefly attended a private school but because her father couldn't afford the fees she was then moved to a public school. She completed her secondary education at Dover Heights Home Science High School, leaving at 15 to begin her career. She started her career at Australian Consolidated Press
Australian Consolidated Press
ACP Magazines , a subsidiary of the Nine Entertainment Co., is an Australian media company. It publishes the Australian Women's Weekly and the Australian edition of Woman's Day....
, owned by the Packer family, working as a copy girl at the Australian Women's Weekly
Australian Women's Weekly
The Australian Women's Weekly is an Australian monthly women's magazine published by ACP Magazines, a division of PBL Media based in Sydney. Audited circulation in 2009 exceeded 500,000 copies monthly, making it the largest magazine in Australia.-History:...
, then became a cadet journalist on The Daily Telegraph
The 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...
and The Sunday Telegraph
The Sunday Telegraph (Australia)
The Sunday Telegraph is an Australian newspaper published every Sunday across New South Wales and parts of Queensland. As of 2011, The Sunday Telegraph is Australia's biggest selling newspaper.- Publication :...
in Sydney. Her first byline came in 1959 when the 17-year-old covered the Australian tour by Princess Alexandra
Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy
Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy is the youngest granddaughter of King George V of the United Kingdom and Mary of Teck. She is the widow of Sir Angus Ogilvy...
.
Career
At 21 she married architect Alasdair "Mac" Macdonald, and the couple had two children. She was appointed women's editor of the Telegraph at just 23 years old. In 1966 Buttrose won a racetrack fashion contest run by a rival newspaper, for which the first prize was an overseas trip, including a visit to Expo 67Expo 67
The 1967 International and Universal Exposition or Expo 67, as it was commonly known, was the general exhibition, Category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It is considered to be the most successful World's Fair of the 20th century, with the...
in Montreal. Buttrose and Mac then stopped in England in 1967 where she worked for a time on the British national magazine Woman's Own
Woman's Own
Woman's Own is a British lifestyle magazine aimed at women.Woman's Own was first published in 1932. It is one of the UK's most famous women's magazines and is published by IPC Media....
before giving birth to her first child, a daughter, Kate. It was after her daughter's birth that she received a telegram from Sir Frank Packer, head of Australian Consolidated Press, offering her back her former job as women's editor at the Telegraph. The family then returned to Australia.
In 1971 Buttrose was chosen as founding editor of a new ACP women's magazine. This was originally to have been an Australian edition of the renowned American magazine Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan (magazine)
Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...
, but the deal fell through after Hearst
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father...
Magazines sold the Cosmopolitan rights to longtime Packer rivals Fairfax
Fairfax Media
Fairfax Media Limited is one of Australia's largest diversified media companies. The group's operations include newspapers, magazines, radios and digital media operating in Australia and New Zealand. Fairfax Media was founded by the Fairfax family as John Fairfax and Sons, later to become John...
, so Packer and Buttrose set about creating a new publication, dubbed Cleo
Cleo (magazine)
CLEO is an Australian, New Zealand, South African, Malaysian, Singaporean, Thailand and Indonesian women's magazine.Aimed at an older audience than the teenage-focused Dolly, the magazine is known for its CLEO Bachelor of the Year award....
, which they launched in 1972, several months ahead of its rival. Cleo was an instant hit, selling its entire original print run in just two days; the magazine broke new ground in Australian mainstream publishing, featuring the first nude male centrefold (actor Jack Thompson
Jack Thompson
Jack Thompson may refer to:*Jack Thompson , American boxer*Jack Thompson , Australian film and television star*Jack Thompson , disbarred Florida attorney...
) and frank articles on female sexuality and other topics, leading to the inclusion of the first sealed section in an Australian magazine. During the early months of the magazine, Buttrose became pregnant with her second child, Ben, but with the grudging support of the Packers she worked through her pregnancy, an unusual feat for that time, when it was still common for women to have to give up work permanently after they became pregnant.
Buttrose edited Cleo until 1975, when she was appointed editor of the Packers' flagship magazine, the Australian Women's Weekly (1975–6), then she became editor-in-chief of both publications from 1976–78, before being appointed Publisher of Australian Consolidated Press Women's Division from 1978–81. In 1981 she left the Packers after their rival Rupert 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....
offered her the job of Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph in 1981, making her the first female editor of a major metropolitan newspaper in Australia, a position she held until 1984; she was also appointed to the board of News Limited
News Limited
News Limited is one of Australia's largest diversified media companies. The publicly listed company's interests span newspaper and magazine publishing, Internet, Pay TV, National Rugby League, market research, DVD and film distribution, and film and television production trading assets.News Limited...
. She made frequent appearances on radio and TV and in 1980, her media prominence led to her becoming the subject of the song "Ita", recorded by rock band Cold Chisel
Cold Chisel
Cold Chisel is a rock band that originated in Adelaide, Australia. It is one of the most acclaimed Australian rock bands of all time, with a string of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s and huge sales that continue to this day, although its success and acclaim was almost completely restricted to...
, which was included on their successful East
East (album)
East was the third studio album by Australian pub rock band Cold Chisel, released in June 1980. The album peaked at No. 2 and spent 63 weeks on the national chart. It was the biggest-selling Australian album release of the year...
album.
While editing the Women's Weekly Buttrose's first marriage broke down, and the couple divorced in 1976. Later she met Peter Sawyer, and they married in 1979. By her own account it was "not a very happy marriage"; Sawyer left in 1980 and they subsequently divorced.
In his 2007 book Who Killed Channel Nine?, former Nine Network producer Gerald Stone
Gerald 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...
claimed that Buttrose and Packer conducted a private but intense affair during Buttrose's tenure on Cleo, and that Packer reportedly even offered to marry her, but she rejected the idea, and they split after a "blazing row". Buttrose herself has repeatedly declined to comment on the matter.
Buttrose was the chairperson of the National Advisory Committee on AIDS (NACAIDS) from 1984 until 1988. On one occasion, she appeared personally in a nationwide TV campaign to explain that donating blood at a blood bank did not pose a risk of catching AIDS (the fear of which had caused a significant drop in donations).
Instantly recognisable by her slight lisp, cultured mode of speech and immaculate appearance, Buttrose became a household name in the 1970s and 1980s, and she was frequently parodied by Australian TV comedians including Paul Hogan and Jane Turner. After her stint with News Limited, Buttrose founded her own publishing company, Capricorn Publishing, and launched her own magazine, Ita, but this eventually folded, and she launched a new company, The Good Life Publishing Company, which in 2005 published bark!, a lifestyle magazine aimed at dog owners.
She was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1979, and became an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1988. In 2003, Buttrose was awarded the Centenary Medal
Centenary Medal
The Centenary Medal is an award created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the Centenary of Federation of Australia and to honour people who have made a contribution to Australian society or government...
. Among her many other public service and charitable activities, Buttrose is a patron of Women of Vision, World Vision Australia, The University of Third Age, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation of Australia, Amarant, the National Menopause Foundation, the Sydney Women's Festival, Safety House and the National Institute of Secretaries and Administrators. In 1984 she was named the Variety Club 'Personality of the Year' as well as winning the Australasian Academy of Broadcast, Arts and Sciences for the 'Most Promising Newcomer to Radio'. In 1993 Buttrose was named Juvenile Diabetes Foundation's 'Australian of the Year'. In 2011 she was elected President of Alzheimer's Australia.
Among other roles, Buttrose currently works on the professional speakers' circuit, and is associated with the Ovation Channel.
Buttrose is also a prolific author and has published nine books, including her autobiography, A Passionate Life. In 2011 Penguin published A Guide to Australian Etiquette.
In April 2011, Buttrose and Cleo were the subject of the ABC-TV
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
two-part telemovie Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo
Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo
Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo is a 2011 Australian two part television miniseries about the beginning of Cleo magazine and its creator, Ita Buttrose...
, starring Asher Keddie
Asher Keddie
Asher Keddie is an Australian actress who is perhaps best known for her role in the Australian television series Offspring. She is also known for her theatre work and leading roles in the television series Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo, Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities and Love My...
as Buttrose, Rob Carlton
Rob Carlton
Rob Carlton is an Australian actor and writer. He is best known for writing and starring in the comedy series Chandon Pictures. He also had starring roles in the comedy satire The Hollowmen and the children's television series Ocean Star....
as Kerry Packer and Tony Barry
Tony Barry
Tony Barry is an Australian actor who has performed in 55 feature films and 45 television series, across a four-decade career.-Filmography:He is known for his roles in the 2008 film Australia, Return to Snowy River, Never Say Die, the 1988 film Surfer and The Coca-Cola Kid.After acting in...
as Frank Packer.