Denise Drysdale
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Denise Drysdale (Melbourne, December 5, 1948) is an Australian television personality and comedian. Born Denice Anne Christina Drysdale, she began her career as a dancing three-year-old. Drysdale began working with television at 10 years of age with GTV9 in Melbourne.
By age 16, she was sacked from Graham Kennedy’s In Melbourne Tonight for being overweight and the "weak link". Photographed at the time by a Channel Nine photographer, Denise went on to win the annual Girl of the Year Award with Everybody’s magazine in 1964. Claiming to be a singer, despite never have sung professionally in her life, Denise was invited to tour Australia with Ray Brown and the Whispers. She was then offered a recording contract and appeared in 26 episodes of the ABC’s Dig We Must.
Employed as Melbourne’s first go-go dancer at age 17, Denise’s popularity led to the Australian Government inviting her to perform for the troops in Vietnam for three weeks in 1967. In 1969, she went to the Far East to entertain American troops. In 1974, she became Ernie Sigley’s barrel girl on The Ernie Sigley Show, earning the nick-name Ding Dong. In 1975 Denise won the TV Week Gold Logie for the Most Popular Female Personality on Australian TV. She won her second Gold Logie the following year. In the same period, she also won consecutive Silver Logies.
Over the years Denise has appeared regularly on numerous television shows including: The Norman Gunston Show, Celebrity Squares, Young Talent Time, Countdown, Division 4, Homicide and Bellbird. Denise has also worked in regional television in Victoria including guest appearances on BTV-6 Ballarat and hosting a morning magazine show on GLV-8 in the 1980s.
As an actress, she has appeared in the movies, The Last of The Knucklemen, Snap Shot and Blowing Hot and Cold. While onstage, she has appeared in many plays and musicals including: Salad Days, Grease, The Barry Crocker Show, Two Gentlemen of Verona, and Hello, Dolly! in 1994. She also spent two years in Sydney doing Weekend Magazine and Beauty and the Beast.
In 1989, Denise teamed up with Ernie Sigley again to host In Melbourne Today, and in 1991 began a Sydney version of the show In Sydney Today. The two programs later merged to a single program Ernie And Denise. In 1998, Denise joined the Seven Network to present her own show for the first time, simply called Denise. In 2000, she celebrated 40 years in television, an extraordinary achievement for any performer.
She has remained working in the Australian television industry, often onscreen since including stints with Ernie Sigley and Daryl Somers on Hey Hey its Saturday. Drysdale has won two Gold Logie awards for Most Popular Female personality on Australian television during the 1970s. Lately her work has centered on Pay TV with station TV1. She also appears on a television commercial for Bev Marks Beds and does regular guest talks around the country.
