MIKE AUDCENT
14 June 1943 – 28 Jan 2019
Network 10 Director of Sport, senior manager of sport at ABC
- Mike passed away in 2019 but has only now come to the attention of AMOHG. (V8sleuth.com)
- Began as a television engineer and later TV video tape editor. In 1978 he moved to the production side of broadcast television and became an Executive Producer in Sport and later Australian Manager of Network 10 Sport. (Audcent family history)
DAVID BARNETT
1932-2022
Federal political journalist, author, press secretary
- Barnett spearheaded the first official Canberra bureau of Australian Associated Press more than 50 years ago (Guardian)
- He is the author with his wife Pru Goward of a biography of John Howard published in 1997 (ABC)
SHIRLEY BARRETT
1961 – 3 August 2022
Film writer-director, novelist
Her first film Love Serenade won the Caméra d’Or at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival. (Wikipedia)- Shirley Barrett appreciation: ‘She never stopped being the life of the party’. Australian film-maker and author Shirley Barrett died this week. Her brother-in-law Imre Salusinszky pays tribute (The Guardian)
- Scouring old pictures, embracing weeping daughters and watching Grand Designs – is this the way to spend one’s last days? (Shirley Barrett: notes on dying)
- Listing in IMDB
JACK CHARLES
5 September 1943 – 13 September 2022
Actor – Film, TV, theatre
NFSA holds an Oral History Interview from 2016 (interviewer Alec Morgan)- His film credits include the Australian film The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978), among others, and more recently appeared in TV series Cleverman (2016) and Preppers (2021). (Wikipedia)
- A State Funeral Service was held to honour and celebrate the life of Uncle Jack Charles on 18 October at 2pm at Hamer Hall. (Government notice)
- Aboriginal actor and activist overcame abuse and incarceration to become one of the nation’s most respected and cherished elders. (The Guardian: obituary)
ROBIN COPPING
1934 – August, 2022
Cinematographer, producer, director
- NFSA holds an Oral History Interview from 2016 (interviewer Paul Harris)
- Robin Copping was an Australian cinematographer and producer. He was part of the revival of the Australian film industry in the 1960s and ’70, forming notable partnerships with David Bilcock and Tim Burstall and helping form Hexagon Productions. (Wikipedia)
- Copping is known for his work on the 1971 film Stork, as well as 1973’s Alvin Purple, 1974’s Alvin Rides Again and 1975’s Petersen. (Daily Mail – UK)
- IMDB listing
PHILIP DALKIN
February 28, 1955 – August 4, 2022
Screenwriter, script editor, producer
- Over his four-decade career, Philip wrote for both film and television. He wrote across multiple genres. He could write kid’s television. He could write drama. He could write sitcoms. (Australian Writers’ Guild)
- Prolific screenwriter, whose vast credits include All Together Now, Col’n Carpenter, The Deep, Stingers & Sea Patrol (TV Tonight)
- Listing on IMDB
JUDITH DURHAM
3 July 1943 – 5 August 2022
Singer
- NFSA holds an Oral History interview, conducted by Wendy Stapleton in 2015.
- Vocalist with the Seekers, the Australian pop quartet whose hits in the 1960s included I’ll Never Find Another You and Georgy Girl (The Guardian)
- Born in Essendon in Victoria, Durham recorded her first EP at 19 and went on to worldwide fame with The Seekers, selling more than 50 million records. (ABC News)
- Durham at first planned to be a pianist and gained the qualification of Associate in Music, Australia (AMusA), in classical piano at the University of Melbourne Conservatorium. (Wikipedia)
VINCENT GIL
1939 – 21 August 2022
Actor – Film, TV, theatre
- The star was best known for playing Crawford Montizano, otherwise known as Nightrider, in Mad Max. (News )
- Listing on IMDB
HILARY LINSTEAD
1938 – August 5, 2022
Casting director, producer
Talked of as a “force of nature” by industry friends, Linstead is considered to have nurtured many of Australia’s most successful stage, film and TV talents, and is known for discovering Rome and Juliet director Baz Luhrmann among others (Deadline.com)- Born in London in 1938, and educated at Cheltenham Ladies College, Linstead went to Australia as a professional actor, as a member of an English touring company. (Variety)
- . . .A year later she packaged and produced her first feature film, Heatwave, directed by Phil Noyce, followed by Molly, a children’s film about a singing dog, starring Claudia Karvan. As she was to ruefully reflect, ‘the dog could sing, but couldn’t act’.. VALE on NFSA website.
- IMDB listing
OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN
26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022
Singer
- Dame Olivia Newton-John was a British-Australian singer, actress and activist] She was a four-time Grammy Award winner whose music career included five number-one hits and many other Top Ten hits (Wikipedia)
- Olivia Newton-John touched hearts in the 1970s with her songs If Not For You, Have You Never Been Mellow, I Honestly Love You, A Little More Love, and Sam. She took America by storm as Sandy in the evergreen musical Grease with John Travolta. (Only Olivia fansite)
- Olivia Newton-John, who has died aged 73, began her career as the sweetheart of country-flavoured pop. It all changed when she donned black spandex for Grease, one of the most successful film musicals of all time. (BBC obituary)
BASIA BONKOWSKI
1957? – September 3, 2022
TV presenter, producer, writer
The girl with “the multi-coloured hair and multi-cultured stare” has passed away. (SBS)- Basia pioneered music television in the ’80s with her flagship shows on SBS, Rock Around the World and Continental Drift and was widely known and loved for her presence, innate style and a sense of cool that money doesn’t buy. (Honey/Nine)
- Born and raised in Adelaide, the presenter and producer was one of four children born to Polish immigrants Maria and Jerzy Bonkowski. She attended Cabra College and was attracted to writing and performing from an early age. (IF magazine)
- An icon of Australian music and television, and a celebrated academic, Basia was best known by Aussie music fans for presenting the forward-thinking SBS music shows ‘Rock Around the World’ and ‘Continental Drift’. (TheMusic.com)
- She studied Law at the University of Adelaide before becoming ill with Hodgkins Lymphoma; causing a switch to Flinders University where she majored in English Literature and Drama. (IMDB)
ARCHIE ROACH
8 January 1956 – 30 July 2022
Singer, songwriter
NFSA holds an Oral History interview, conducted by Graham Dodsworth in 2012- Archie Roach, the Indigenous Australian songwriter whose celebrated song Took the Children Away brought national attention to the story of the stolen generations, has died aged 66. (The Guardian)
- He was born at Mooroopna in Victoria and was named after an Aboriginal word referring to a bend in the Goulburn River. (ABC)
- Archie Roach was deeply committed to creating opportunities for First Nations artists across all creative platforms. (Archie Roach website)
- In an incredible coincidence, Ruby Hunter saw Archie in the studio audience on The Happy Hammond Show when they were both kids and said to her foster Mum ‘I’m going to marry that boy!’ AND SHE DID! Amazing facts: NFSA website)
CAROLYN STRACHAN
1946-2022
Documentary director, producer
- In 1972, she met the Italian activist and filmmaker Alessandro Cavadini, then working on the important historical film Ningla-A-Na (Hungry for Land). Strachan came on board to work on the film’s distribution, (SMH Obituary)
- IMDB listing
JOHN TINGLE
02 Nov 1931 – 05 Aug 2022
Journalist, radio broadcaster
- John Saxon Tingle was an Australian politician, journalist and broadcaster. He was the founder of the Shooters Party in New South Wales. (Wikipedia)
- Daughter and ABC presenter Laura Tingle pays tribute to her father who she says was her ‘greatest urger-on, fan and critic (The Guardian)
- His career started in journalism, where he worked as a broadcaster and news editor for 2QN Deniliquin from 1949 until 1951. (ABC News)
- “ (Isn’t Saxon just THE best name?) I could put lots of pictures from my Dad’s extraordinary life here, though I am not quite that competent.” Laura Tingle comments on her father, quoted on TelevisionAU
MICK WALTER
? – August 2022
TV camera operator, floor manager
- “It’s with the most profound sadness that I learned of Mick Walter’s passing. He was a wonderful colleague and friend. My heart aches. Condolences and love to his beautiful family” Emma Alberici on Twitter – followed by more comments
- This bloke, Mick Walter, started work at the ABC 50 years ago this year, as a trainee camera operator. Leigh Sales on Instagram with many more comments
- Mick worked at Gore Hill from the 70’s as a television cameraman, before later moving to Outside Broadcasts where he was the Senior Cameraman on the larger vans. At Ultimo he worked as a Cameraman/Floor Manager in Studio 24 on 730 till recently. (Entry by Henry Schydlo on Facebook)
- IMDB listing
Australian Media Oral History Group 