Ronald Arthur (Ron) Casey, OAM, (born 5 July 1929) was a former colourful television presenter, sports journalist and talk-back radio host based in Sydney, Australia. His nickname was The Case. [1]
He was born in Lismore, New South Wales, but moved to Sydney with his mother and brother settling at Coogee, New South Wales when he was 10. Ron Casey is sometimes affectionately referred to as "Won Casey" owing to the broadcaster having a speech impediment causing difficulty pronouncing the letter "r".
In his youth, Ron Casey was a N.S.W. State swimming champion. He married in Sydney twice, first in 1954 and had two daughters. He married again in 1966 and had a son and a daughter. [2]
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He became famous in the early years of television as a sports presenter at TCN-9 Nine Network compering the sports program World of Sports (with Frank Hyde ) and later as the sports newsreader at Channel TEN-10. He was also a talk-back radio host at Sydney radio stations 2SM, 2KY and 2GB.[1] His career began at 2KY in 1948. Ron Casey was also a sports journalist at Sydney's The Daily Mirror (Australia) for many years.
Ron Casey was awarded the Order of Australia Medal on Australia Day 1988 for services to Television and Sport.
Although Ron Casey was a very successful sports media figure, he later found controversy as an often politically incorrect talk-back radio host. Casey was also famous for his quick temper.
In the 1980's, Casey became a vocal campaigner against increasing Asian immigration to Australia although he denied he was ever a racist. Said Casey:
"The conspiracy exists among prominent politicians to stifle any debate on the immigration issue, and among ethnic leaders in the community to diffuse any opposition to unlimited Asian immigration. The facts are plain to see. The majority of Australians are against it, but nothing is done to ensure their wishes are fulfilled. I spoke out and was vilified. Professor Blainey spoke out and lost his job. John Howard spoke out and was dumped as opposition leader. Bruce Ruxton spoke out and was labelled a racist looney."[3]
In 1991, Ron Casey was involved in a sensational incident on national television. During a televised republican debate, he became involved in a live on-air brawl with singer Normie Rowe on the Nine Network's Midday television show hosted by Ray Martin which showed Casey punching Rowe in the face. The incident was even mentioned in the Federal Parliament. The Victorian RSL chief Bruce Ruxton, who was on the set at the time of the brawl, said the next day: "As for Ron Casey, he deserved a good punch in the nose."[4]
In May 2000, Casey was suspended from radio station 2GB as a result of alleged inappropriate comments he made on-air. Soon after, he retired from the Sydney media after a career that spanned 50 years.
The story of Ron Casey's life was published in 1989. It was written with Richard Sleeman and was called Confessions of a Larrikin. The book was very successful. Even though he was often deemed controversial in his views and opinions, Ron Casey always retained a large Sydney audience/fan-base and his radio and television ratings were always high.[5]
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