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John Blackman
John Blackman (14 July 1947 – 4 June 2024) was an Australian radio and television presenter, voice artist, comedy writer and author. He was most widely-known for his voice-over work for the long-running Nine Network comedy variety show Hey Hey It's Saturday from 1971 until 1999, returning for reunion specials in 2009 and in 2021, with a brief relaunch in 2010.
Blackman grew up in the Melbourne suburb of Mount Waverley, where he attended Syndal Primary School until 1959 and completed year 10 at Syndal Technical School in 1963. He was an avid supporter of the Fitzroy Football Club, now the Brisbane Lions. On leaving school (and home) at 16, he worked in a succession of occupations: customs clerk, cash van salesman for a cigarette distributor, sales representative for a perfume company, and spruiker in the Myer Bargain Basement. At the age of 22, he decided on a career in radio.
He worked in radio from 1969 but was probably best known for his 28-year stint as announcer and character voice-over for the Nine Network's Hey Hey It's Saturday, Australia's longest-running variety show. One of his best-known characters was a stick puppet known as "Dickie Knee".
In 1969, he joined 2GN Goulburn as an announcer, newsreader, copywriter, salesman, and record librarian.
In 1970, he joined 2CA Canberra, where he worked in a variety of on-air shifts for 18 months until mid-1971, when he joined 3AW in Melbourne. As evening announcer, Blackman worked with the Reverend Alex Kenworthy for a number of years on "Nightline".[citation needed]
In 1974, he joined 3AK where he hosted the morning show until 1975, when he moved to Sydney to join 2UE as a "floating" announcer for just three months. At TCN-9 in Sydney, he was a staff continuity announcer and daytime newsreader for National Nine News alongside his work on Hey Hey It's Saturday, which he would do "down the line" to GTV-9 in Melbourne every Saturday from an announcing booth at TCN-9.[citation needed]
Blackman returned to 3AK Melbourne in 1979 to host the breakfast show until 1981. Later that year, he joined 3AW to host their breakfast show with Paul Barber. After Barber left shortly afterward, he was replaced by former ATV-0 newsreader and staff announcer, Bruce Mansfield. This combination became one of the most successful in Australian radio history, with 3AW breakfast topping the ratings for five consecutive years until 1986.
After leaving 3AW in controversial circumstances on 30 April 1986, Blackman became part of the short-lived CBC Network (2UE/3AK) experiment; and, in December of that year, his contract was not renewed.
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John Blackman
John Blackman (14 July 1947 – 4 June 2024) was an Australian radio and television presenter, voice artist, comedy writer and author. He was most widely-known for his voice-over work for the long-running Nine Network comedy variety show Hey Hey It's Saturday from 1971 until 1999, returning for reunion specials in 2009 and in 2021, with a brief relaunch in 2010.
Blackman grew up in the Melbourne suburb of Mount Waverley, where he attended Syndal Primary School until 1959 and completed year 10 at Syndal Technical School in 1963. He was an avid supporter of the Fitzroy Football Club, now the Brisbane Lions. On leaving school (and home) at 16, he worked in a succession of occupations: customs clerk, cash van salesman for a cigarette distributor, sales representative for a perfume company, and spruiker in the Myer Bargain Basement. At the age of 22, he decided on a career in radio.
He worked in radio from 1969 but was probably best known for his 28-year stint as announcer and character voice-over for the Nine Network's Hey Hey It's Saturday, Australia's longest-running variety show. One of his best-known characters was a stick puppet known as "Dickie Knee".
In 1969, he joined 2GN Goulburn as an announcer, newsreader, copywriter, salesman, and record librarian.
In 1970, he joined 2CA Canberra, where he worked in a variety of on-air shifts for 18 months until mid-1971, when he joined 3AW in Melbourne. As evening announcer, Blackman worked with the Reverend Alex Kenworthy for a number of years on "Nightline".[citation needed]
In 1974, he joined 3AK where he hosted the morning show until 1975, when he moved to Sydney to join 2UE as a "floating" announcer for just three months. At TCN-9 in Sydney, he was a staff continuity announcer and daytime newsreader for National Nine News alongside his work on Hey Hey It's Saturday, which he would do "down the line" to GTV-9 in Melbourne every Saturday from an announcing booth at TCN-9.[citation needed]
Blackman returned to 3AK Melbourne in 1979 to host the breakfast show until 1981. Later that year, he joined 3AW to host their breakfast show with Paul Barber. After Barber left shortly afterward, he was replaced by former ATV-0 newsreader and staff announcer, Bruce Mansfield. This combination became one of the most successful in Australian radio history, with 3AW breakfast topping the ratings for five consecutive years until 1986.
After leaving 3AW in controversial circumstances on 30 April 1986, Blackman became part of the short-lived CBC Network (2UE/3AK) experiment; and, in December of that year, his contract was not renewed.