Graham Kennedy

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Graham Kennedy
Born February 15, 1934
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Died May 25, 2005
Bowral, New South Wales, Australia

Graham Cyril Kennedy, AO (15 February 1934 - 25 May 2005) was an Australian radio, television and film performer, often called "The King" of Australian television.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Born in Melbourne, Kennedy grew up at 32 Nelson Street, Balaclava. His father, Cyril William Kennedy, was an engineer. His parents divorced shortly before World War II, and he was largely raised by his grandparents.

After Kennedy's death, an article in the Bulletin by his friend and colleague John Mangos 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.[citation needed]

[edit] Education

Kennedy was educated firstly at Euston College, then Caulfield North Central School in Balaclava Road (now Caulfield Junior College), and finally at Melbourne High School in Forrest Hill, South Yarra.

In 1977 he chaired a project to raise funds for improvements at Melbourne High which raised more than $100,000 in its first year.

[edit] After school

Kennedy left school in 1949 to work as a news runner for the Radio Australia shortwave service of the Australian Broadcasting Commission, and shortly thereafter went to radio station 3UZ, working in the record library.

[edit] Radio career

[edit] Nicky

Melbourne's top broadcaster was 'Nicky' (Cliff Nicholls, real name Clifford Nicholls Whitta). A radio perfomer since 1932, he presented a highly popular housewife's programme, as well as "Chatterbox Corner" with his wife Nancy Lee. In an era when Australian radio announcers routinely adopted false British accents and a "hard sell" approach to advertisements, his authentic Australian voice and and irreverent attitude towards his sponsors made him the idol of his audience.

In his foreword to Nancy Lee's book Being a Chum Was Fun (1979) Kennedy wrote:[1]

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 3AW'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 to 3UZ (where Kennedy was working), bringing with him his teenage panel operators Alf "Alfie Boy" Thesinger and Russell Archer. But as eighteen-year-olds, Thesinger and Archer were "called up" (conscripted) for National Service.

Nancy Lee's book records (p. 149):

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 suprised. "Oh, no, not Graham! [...] he's a nice boy, but he can't talk." Nick said, "Mum, leave him to me."

Nicholls chose Kennedy as his turntable operator and on-air sidekick, and became father-figure, personal friend and mentor to Kennedy. The two built an extraordinary on-air rapport and listenership.

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.

[edit] Other radio

By May 1957, Kennedy was appearing on television (see below), but also presented a 3AK morning radio program 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 Coombe; and from September to November 1976 was on 3DB in with Denis Scanlan.

[edit] RS Playhouse

Kennedy recorded eight thirty-minute radio comedies for the ABC under the title Graham Kennedy's RS Playhouse. Written by Gary Reilly 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 "RS" in the title is from the surnames of Reilly and Sattler, but also has another connotation in Australian English.

The episode titles were:

  • "The Birthday Boy"
  • "Because He's My Brother"
  • "You Only Live Once"
  • "Sunday Morning Fever"
  • "The Chocolate Milkman"
  • "The Pawnbroker"
  • "Mad Jack's Dentist"
  • "The Good Morning Show"

Sattler and his wife (actress Noeline Brown) were two of Kennedy's closest friends.

[edit] 2Day FM

Kennedy was also involved in Sydney radio station 2Day FM, owning ten percent of the station when it launched in 1980, and from May 1981 presented a three-hour program of music and comedy on Sunday mornings.

[edit] Television career

[edit] In Melbourne Tonight (IMT)

Kennedy's first television appearance was in March 1957, representing 3UZ on a GTV-9 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."[citation needed]

Kennedy was not GTV-9's first choice — they had planned to use either 3UZ personality John McMahon or 3DB's Dick Cranbourne.

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 Tonight (or IMT) which began on 6 May 1957. Thus the 23-year old Kennedy began a career of which he was later to say that he was "terrified for forty years".[citation needed]

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.

Graham Kennedy (left) and Bert Newton (right) in their Melbourne-based evening show, In Melbourne Tonight
Graham Kennedy (left) and Bert Newton (right) in their Melbourne-based evening show, In Melbourne Tonight

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:[2]

(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 compere; 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.

[edit] Comedic style

Kennedy deliberately pushed the boundaries of acceptability in a staid era: his style was bawdy, irreverent, iconoclastic, often smutty, sometimes slightly camp, and laden with innuendo and double-entendre.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Sam Chisolm

Gerald Stone 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, later to became a senior executive for variously the Packer and Murdoch 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.

Kennedy ruled supreme as host of IMT and Australia's most popular TV personality for thirteen years. With Bert Newton, he worked with a talented on-camera team such as Joff Ellen, Rosie Sturgess, Patti Newton, Philip Brady and others. IMT's writers included Mike McColl-Jones and Ernie Carroll (the arm and voice behind Ossie Ostrich). The theme song, "Gee, But You're Swell", was written by Abel Baer and Thomas Tobias in 1936.

Kennedy quit IMT on December 23, 1969, with newsreader Eric Pearce placing on his head a representation of a crown worn by Henry IV, symbolising his reign as King of Australian television.

[edit] Rover

Kennedy requested a "reject" dog from the Jack Davey 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:

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 manouevres 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 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.

[edit] The Graham Kennedy Show

After a special on 2 March 1972, Kennedy returned to regular television with The Graham Kennedy Show on 19 September 1972.

[edit] The crow call

On the show of March 5, 1975, Kennedy imitated a crow call ("faaaaaark") highly reminiscent of the word "fuck". A rash of newspaper headlines followed, and the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal became involved.

Kennedy was banned from performing on live TV, meaning that he would have to pre-record the show on videotape. Some have claimed that Kennedy either deliberately engineered the crow-call incident so that the show would have to be pre-recorded, allowing him to get home earlier, or that he did it so that Nine would sack him.

A 2002 newspaper article in The Age by writer Jonathan Green reported that the crow-call segment was pre-taped and not live, and that the bad language controversy was probably a pretext for other issues. Nine personality Ernie Sigley, who presented his own variety show on different nights to Kennedy, has claimed the real reason Kennedy was axed was that his ratings were so poor compared to Sigley's.

[edit] Criticism of Doug McClelland

At the start of his program on 17 April 1975, Kennedy attacked Senator Doug McClelland, the then Minister for the Media, over local content issues. His comments were cut from the tape, 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."

Kennedy's words (which never made it to air) were:

Good evening.
Little serious bit to start with: Senator Douglas McClelland, ahh, is really copping it in the press at the moment. All this week, every paper you pick up, there's a, there's a roast of the Senator.
And like most Australians, I hate to kick a man when he's down.
(audience laughter)
But in Doug McClelland's case, I happily make an exception.
(audience laughter)
He has failed, and he knows it too. Now, the public know it.
This misguided Minister took credit for a mythical boom in television production. Now, there is no boom.
Employment in television production is down this year, by over 30 percent, and that's a fact.
His point system has proved utterly ineffective, and I wonder if you can remember who that little blond-headed fellow was, who works on television, who originally pointed out that it wouldn't work.
(audience: Graham!)
That's right.
(audience laughter)
We are all suffering from the lack of local content at the moment. I'm being trashed in the surveys because constantly being thrown at, up against me are shows like the Academy Awards, and cheap television series, all purchased for a few hundred dollars from the Yanks.
Now some of these - when I say a few hundred dollars, by the time it's amortised over the network, that's how much the program costs. Now we can't compete, umm, with the price of these shows.
We cannot: this is a, what is this, a six thousand dollar a night ... uhh, we can play Mrs. Miniver for, err, ninepence.
(audience laughter)
It's beneath my dignity to even go into the laughable and inane carryings-on of the Australian Broadcasting Control Board which the good Minister of the Crown, Senator Douglas McClelland, is in charge of, but I know I can speak for a lot of my colleagues in this industry, and several other industries in the entertainment field, when I demand, here, tonight, nationally, that Senator McClelland be dismissed from office; and I would suggest most strongly that the portfol ... the portfolio itself be dropped.
That's all I want to say.

Kennedy parted company with the Nine Network, but later returned (see below).

[edit] Power Without Glory

Kennedy appeared as Clive Parker in the 26-part ABC drama Power Without Glory, which began on 21 June 1976.

[edit] Blankety Blanks

DVD cover of Blankety Blanks. Kennedy was awarded a Gold Logie in 1978 for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television.
DVD cover of Blankety Blanks. Kennedy was awarded a Gold Logie in 1978 for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television.

He returned to television in 1977 for what is now Network Ten to host a comedy game show, Blankety Blanks. It dominated early evening television for two years between 7 February 1977 and 15 September 1978, and featured friends from his earlier days including Noeline Brown, Barry Creyton, Noel Ferrier, Ugly Dave Gray, Carol Raye and Stuart Wagstaff.

[edit] Graham Kennedy's News Show, Graham Kennedy: Coast to Coast

On 25 April 1988 Graham Kennedy's News Show premiered on the Nine Network, with Kennedy in the unlikely role of newsreader, with Ken Sutcliffe. It ran until 9 December 1988 and returned on 13 February 1989 under the title Coast to Coast, featuring co-host John Mangos replacing Sutcliffe. Coast to Coast ran until 8 December 1989.

Kennedy defied convention with remarks which were outrageously tasteless, and yet hilarious. He said that it would be helpful for the show's ratings if the Pope's aircraft were to fly into a mountain; remarked that Queen Elizabeth II "didn't have bad breasts ... for a woman of her age" and mocked the October 17, 1989, San Francisco Loma Prieta earthquake with a re-creation on the set.

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".

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:[3]

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!

[edit] Graham Kennedy's Funniest Home Videos

His last programme was Graham Kennedy's Funniest Home Videos which was broadcast between 29 March and 15 November 1990 on the Nine Network.

[edit] 35 Years of Television

Kennedy presented the introduction segment to 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.

[edit] Last television appearance

He was interviewed by Ray Martin in 1994, later stating that he felt "ambushed" by Martin's probing into personal matters. This was to be his final television appearance.

[edit] Hall of Fame Logie

In 1998 he was honoured with a Hall of Fame Logie. He did not attend the ceremony; the award was accepted on his behalf by Bert Newton. Over his life Kennedy collected many Logies, including 6 Gold Logies (1959, 1960, 1967, 1969, 1974, 1978) and 1 Special Logie - the Star of the Decade in 1967.

[edit] Film career

Kennedy appeared in a number of films, ranging from brief cameos to leading roles. They include:

He apparently also had a cameo in On the Beach (1959) which was not used [4]

[edit] Retirement

In 1991 Kennedy retired to a rural property at Canyonleigh, near Bowral in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, near to his friends Tony Sattler and Noeline Brown, where his two best friends were two Clydesdale horses named Dave and Sarah, and a Golden Retriever called Henry.

He never married, despite his hoax engagement to singer Lana Cantrell, who became a New York lawyer. In the 1960s Bob Dyer described him as "probably the loneliest young man in Australia."

Kennedy's health declined during the 1990s. A diabetic, and a heavy smoker and drinker, in 2001 Kennedy fell down stairs at his home, suffering a broken leg and skull. Initial reports suggested that he had suffered brain damage. His Canyonleigh property was sold, and he moved into a townhouse and later a nursing home. His old friend and former colleague Bert Newton visited him shortly after the accident, and friends Tony Sattler and Noelene Brown rallied to his aid.

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's book, shortly afterwards the sum of $150,000 was placed into Kennedy's bank account anonymously. It is believed to have come from former Nine executive Sam Chisholm, who rose from early beginnings promoting floor wax products on In Melbourne Tonight to become Channel Nine's network chief.

On 2 February 2004, The Daily Telegraph 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 worked with Kennedy on the movies The Odd Angry Shot and Don's Party published a biography of Kennedy, King: The Life and Comedy of Graham Kennedy (McMillan, 2003). Although unauthorised, it was reported that Kennedy gave Blundell, via his agent, "best wishes for the book".

In 2001 Kennedy's friend and Coast to Coast colleague, John Mangos, was reported as saying:[citation needed]

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.

[edit] Death

At 4:30am on 25 May 2005, Kennedy died at age 71 at the Kenilworth Nursing Home, Bowral, from complications from pneumonia.[5]

John Mangos wrote in The Bulletin:[citation needed]

A week before his 69th birthday, he was bedridden and infirm. His wasted and frail, aching body could take no more. I paid a short and emotional visit. Still, the ashtray was by his bedside next to a radio tuned to ABC Radio National. I leaned over to kiss him on the forehead and he whispered, 'Don’t get too close, it hurts'.

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 is a form of amnesia seen in chronic alcoholics; briefly stated, victims eat too little and drink too much.

Kennedy's will reportedly provided a seven-figure sum to the Sydney City Mission.

The Age of June 26, 2005 reported Mangos as saying that he "knew Kennedy wanted his ashes scattered at sea. And that wish was carried out."

[edit] Hinch controversy

After his death the radio broadcaster Derryn Hinch alleged that Kennedy had died from an AIDS related disease. 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.

[edit] Funeral

Kennedy's close friend Tony Sattler offered the Nine Network the right to televise the funeral. Nine declined the offer, claiming it could not justify the cost of the outside broadcast. The Seven Network accepted the offer and offered its 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 May 31, 2005 in a small community theatre in the town of Mittagong.

Wagstaff's eulogy alluded to the attack by Derryn Hinch - made after Kennedy's death - thus:

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 web site www.findagrave.com states "Burial: Cremated, Ashes given to family or friend."

[edit] Legacy

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 one hundred television industry professionals, on Australia's Nine Network on 25 September 2005. Kennedy's In Melbourne Tonight topped the poll, Power Without Glory was #15, Blankety Blanks was #20, and Coast to Coast ranked #42.

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.

In his book King and I: My Life With Graham Kennedy broadcaster Rob Astbury stated that he and Kennedy had been lovers.

A miniseries examining Kennedy's life titled The King 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 will cost AU$2.1 million and will be screened on pay TV in Australia in mid 2007.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Lee, Nancy (1979). Being a Chum was Fun: the Story of Nancy Lee. Melbourne: Listen & Learn Productions. ISBN 0-9596-1361-7. 
  2. ^ Newton, Bert (1977). Bert! Bert Newton's Own Story. Toorak, Victoria, Australia: Garry Sparkes & Associates, pp.91-93. ISBN 0-9080-8124-3. 
  3. ^ Lee, Nancy (1979). Op Cit, p.67
  4. ^ On The Beach. On the Beach. Retrieved on 2007-06-03.
  5. ^ ABC-TV News

[edit] Further reading

  • Stone, Gerald (2000). Compulsive Viewing: The inside story that rocked the TV industry. Sydney: Penguin. ISBN 0-7329-1165-6. 
  • Lee, Nancy (1979). Being a Chum was Fun: the Story of Nancy Lee. Melbourne: Listen & Learn Productions. ISBN 0-9596-1361-7. 

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Kennedy, Graham Cyril
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Entertainer
DATE OF BIRTH 15 February 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Melbourne
DATE OF DEATH 25 May 2005
PLACE OF DEATH Bowral, New South Wales, Australia
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../g/r/a/Graham_Kennedy_4f11.html"