“The first lady of Western Australian television” deserves that honour on so many levels. Not only is Coralie the grande dame of WA theatre, being a playwright, composer, actor, producer and director of not only stage productions, but also kick started local television production in WA. Coralie Condon “The first lady of Western Australian television” Coralie was also the first woman employed by TVW Channel 7 and the first lady seen live on WA television, on the evening prior to the official opening night. On May 16th, 2012, Coralie will be celebrating her 97th birthday....

Classics of the Silver Screen The Australian Museum of Motion Picture and Television (Inc) has a passion for preserving the heritage of the film and broadcasting industries. Members of the television fraternity will remember their “50 years of television broadcasting in Western Australia” exhibition in Fremantle to coincide with Channel Seven’s 50th anniversary. It was an exhibition that commemorated the activities of all television stations in this State. AMMPT also conduct a regular public fund raising event at the Cygnet Cinema on the third Sunday morning of each month. To...

Though the WA TV History group is a separate entity from the Australian Museum of Motion Picture and Television (Inc) we share a passion for preserving the heritage of the broadcasting and film industries. The following will give a glimpse of what AMMPT is doing in the following months. The museum association is still looking for a permanent home and is in constant need for additional storage space as their vast collection of equipment and memorabilia grows. Western Region April Meeting After an unfortunate hiatus to the regular monthly events, the first for 2012 was held at the RSL hall on...

Tribute to Gerry Bahen (1929 – 2012) Jocelyn and Bret Treasure advised us of some very sad news last week, but also recounted some wonderful memories. It was a week in which the ANZAC Day Derby Cup football match between the South Fremantle Bulldogs and East Fremantle Sharks proved a real dampener, when play was firstly hampered by an hour of torrential rain, secondly the Sharks claimed the Sir Hughie Edwards Cup in an 85-point victory, and most solemn of all the Bulldogs were mourning the passing of their triple premiership defender Gerry Bahen, at the age of eighty three. The South Fremantle...

Tribute to Garry Meadows who passed away on Thursday, July 22nd, 1982. Garry had an early involvement with the stage appearing at the Patch, Repertory and Playhouse Theatres. One occasion was in 1957 when Sol Sainken produced a play titled ‘Small Hotel’ by Rex Frost, which starred Garry Meadows and Frank Baden-Powell at the Playhouse. The Playhouse had only been recently built and was opened the year before on 22 August 1956. Two years earlier, the Repertory Club lighting electrician Ian Stimson first met Garry when he was in the cast of “The Importance of being Ernest”. I did...

Tribute to David Gordon TVW stills photographer Ron Frank has kindly provided the following tribute to David Gordon TVW stills photographer. David Gordon – TVW stills photographer in 1972 Photo courtesy of Steve Thompson It is my duty to advise you that yet another of the TVW workers has passed away. David Gordon who was the stills photographer employed at TVW for many years He ran the darkroom. He shot many of the stills that the station used. He processed all his own work in a small area among side the news photographers room. He used all his own gear as the station...

Bill McKenzie filled many key executive rolls at TVW and later become the first Managing Director of NEW-10 in Perth. 1959-1963 Joined TVW June 1959 and worked in Traffic, Programs & Publicity. 1963 Sydney Sales Manager TVW7 1964-1968 Film Manager TVW7 1968-1974 Assistant Station Manager TVW7 1974-1977 General Manager SAS 10 Adelaide 1978-1982 Group General Manager TVW Enterprises Ltd. 1982-1986 Managing Director ATV 10 Melbourne 1986-1987 Chief Executive Network 10. 1988-1995 Managing Director NEW 10 1995-2000 Vice President and MD The Disney Channel Australia Bill was...

1965 Rottnest Island IPT OB Mike Humphry has kindly provided us with a flashback to 1965 when TVW was producing the popular tonight style variety show called “In Perth Tonight” (IPT). It was based on Graham Kennedy’s “In Melbourne Tonight” (IMT) which commenced in 1957, one year after television was launched in Australia. Both IMT and IPT were based on the American ‘Tonight Show’ format, where the first host was Steve Allen (1954–1957). By the time TVW got on board with the format, the US show was being hosted by Johnny Carson (1962–1992), their longest-serving...

TVW Engineering Reunion 2012 A reunion of mainly 1960s and 1970s TVW Engineering and Operations folk was held in Kings Park, Perth, at the Botanical Cafe on Friday 2nd March, 2012. TVW Engineering Reunion 2012 WA TV History A reunion of mainly 1960s and 1970s TVW Engineering and Operations folk was held in Kings Park, Perth, at the Botanical Cafe on Friday 2nd March, 2012. It was an opportunity to catch up with former TVW chief engineer John Quicke, who employed a number of those present. John Quicke and Bert King in 1962 1970, Chief Engineer John Quicke checks...

AMMPT Appeal for Storage Space The Australian Museum of Motion Picture & Television (AMMPT) promotes an awareness of Australia’s contribution to film and television, and in doing so has collected a vast range of memorabilia from film and TV cameras to cinema projectors and all the paraphernalia associated with these industries. Sadly, the association does not have a permanent home, yet through the kindness of members and sponsors, has found safe places to store the many artefacts which allow the history to be told in exhibition form. 2009 AMMPT Exhibition Unfortunately,...