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www.MelbourneObserver.com.au Death of Melbourne radio veteran Colleagues mourn Bruce Mansfield ■ The Melbourne radio industry is mourning the death of veteran Bruce Mansfield who died on Sunday at age 71. He had been suffering pros- tate cancer over the past year. Bruce Mansfield and Philip Brady formed a radio partnership for more than 25 years, hosting 3AW’s Nightline and Remember When top- rating programs. Mansfield announced his illness in September 2015 to listeners, after he took ill in Stockholm. He returned to Australia for treatment for deep vein thrombosis and cancer. His appearances on radio, since returning to Australia, have been in- frequent. His passing is mourned by wife Jill, sons John and David, daughter Louise, and their families. Listeners and colleagues filled the airwaves with tributes. Born onApril 24, 1944, Mansfield, first went to air in 3UZ’s Quest For A Disc Jockey junior announcer com- petition in late 1961. As winner, Bruce won £100 in the competition judged by station Gen- eral Manager Lewis Bennett, Pro- gram Manager John McMahon, and Publicity Manager Bill Dodd. Bruce won the quest, after writ- ing an application to Lewis Bennett, pointing out: “I have had experience in microphone work, and although yet in my teens, am very keen to have an opportunity to prove my abil- ity in this.” In that application, Bruce ne- glected to mention that the “micro- phone work”, was as a spruiker in his work as a junior at Myer’s and Foy’s. There was also a bit of “who you know” in Bruce’s letter to Bennett: “I appear to have a flair for radio work like my uncle Terry Dear’. Dear (1913-1995) had been a part of Melbourne radio, starting in the early days of 3KZ, then becoming one of the first personalities on GTV- 9 in 1957. He had actually started at 3UZ in 1933, but within weeks was dis- missed as “incompetent”, reported The Age Radio Supplement on July 19, 1956. On radio, Terry Dear was known nationally for the Amateur Hour. On TV, Dear hosted shows such as Con- centration and Leave It To The Girls. Bruce’s memory for dates was cloudy, but his 3AW website bio con- firms that he joined 3KZ in 1962 as a panel operator and late night an- nouncer. (In a 1965 press interview, Bruce varied his claim to say that he started at 3KZ in 1960 at age 16. In 3AW on-air chats, in recent years he changed his KZ radio start to age 14 in 1958.) As an office junior at 3KZ in 1962, Bruce’s duties included run- ning messages between the studios at Trades Hall in Lygon St, Carlton, and the offices of Val Morgan in Elizabeth St, City. In 1964 compulsory National Service for 20-year-old males was introduced under the National Ser- vice Act (1964). The selection of conscripts was based on date of birth, and conscripts were obligated to give two years’ continuous full-time service, fol- lowed by a further three years on the active reserve list. The full-time ser- vice requirement was reduced to 18 months in 1971. Having been born on April 24, 1944, Bruce was 20 in 1964. A 1965 story in The Age has some of the jigsaw pieces: “(He) worked in Adelaide for two years, where he did some freelance radio work and modelling. “He went on a world tour in 1964, was away for about 12 months and visited over 26 countries.” Bruce was accompanied on the 26-country trip by his father Stan, who operated a printing business, Clyde Press, at 608-610 High St, Thornbury. The business printed the Digger Books series in the 1950s, and many of Christadelphian (‘Brtehren in Christ’) religious publications, authored by South Australian rela- tives prominent in that faith. Bruce joined 3XY in late 1965 (listed in his 3AW bio as 1964), first as a news reader, and then conduct- ing an afternoon program from 2pm- 4pm. Some of his colleagues at the time, broadcasting from studios in Faraday St, Carlton, were Vi Greenhalf and Mary Hardy. 3XY had substantial Italian con- tent in those years. The Green Guide program schedule for 3XY (1420 kilocycles) for October 10,1966, lists: 5.30am. National First 50 Albums. Ian Major, inc. News every half- hour. 9.30am. Doug Elliot. 11.30am Bruce Mansfield. 5pm. Continental Program. 6pm. Youth For Christ. 6.15pm. British-American News. 6.30pm. Bible Speaks To You. 6.45pm. Theo-sophical Society. 7.00pm. News. 7.05pm. Liberal Party - Political Talk. 7.15pm. Back To God. 7.45pm. Christian Israelite. 8.00pm. Hebrew Angelistic Society. 8.15pm. Enlight-ening Truths. 8.30pm. House of Decision. 9.00pm. Oral Roberts. 9.30pm. Back To Bible. 10.00pm. Radio Bible Class. 10.30pm. World Tomorrow with Dr Armstrong. 11.00pm. Christ-ian Calvalcade. 11.30pm. National First 50 Albums. 12 Midnight. News. Al- bums with Barry Seeber. 1am. All Night Service. In 1967, Bruce’s 11.30am-2pm show was followed by a program compered by Ray Lawrence. The pair were in a car crash on the Geelong Road, which landed Lawrence in hospital for six months. Bruce Mansfield walked away from the smash, and had rarely spoken with Lawrence since. In 1968, the 3XY line-up included Paul Konik at breakfast, Bruce Mansfield presenting the ‘morning women’s’ program, followed by Jeff Sunderland, Johnny Young, Lawrie Bennett, Barry Seeber, Hal Todd, and the all-night service presented by Gary Hoffman (who later was General Manager of Magic 1278). Bruce moved to GTV-9 in 1968, where he appeared in guest seg- ments alongside Graham Kennedy on In Melbourne Tonight. One of his roles was also as ‘Big Bad Bruce’ and the ‘Chinese Superman’ with a young Daryl Somers on Cartoon Corner. Channel 9 duties for most on-air staff also included shifts at its radio station, 3AK. The 1971 radio station line-up of ‘Good Guys’ included Gary Nicholls, newsman Tim Hewat, Lionel Yorke, Alan Aitken, Bruce Mansfield (6pm-Midnight), and Gary Mac. In 1973, Bruce Mansfield made the move to Channel 0, Nunawad- ing, reading the news. He was first billed as late news reader and general announcer, but soon took over as anchor for Eyewit- ness News, from Ralphe Neal. He explained his new-look to Pat- rice Murphy of the Sunday Observer who wrote: “Bruce Mansfield be- gan his broadcasting career at the age of 15 on radio 3KZ where he was the late night announcer: “I suppose I’m a more serious person now - with a more serious job to do.” He told Truth: “I have nothing against Channel 9. It’s just that there wasn’t a regular place for me and I felt I was in a rut after my five years with the station. “My new job will give me more on-air exposure and associate me with news in which I have always been interested.” With Michael Schildberger tak- ing over from Mike Willesee as Channel 0 news boss, Annette Allison was teamed with Bruce at the news desk for 12 months. However, TV’s axe swung, and Bruce was relegated to hosting the Midday Movie, and being the an- nouncer for Young Talent Time. A chance meeting with John Blackman led to a 10-year radio partnership at 3AW. Bruce told Helen Thomas of The Herald (in an interview, where the junior announcer competition had found its way to now be 14), that his day was starting at 5am to go to air on radio as ‘Uncle Roy’ with John Blackman in the breakfast session. Some radio work had occurred in 1980 where Bruce joined Philip Brady at the community radio sta- tion 3CR to appear on the nostalgia program with Johnny Milne and John Ferguson. Bruce’s time with ‘Blackers’ in- cluded the popular Storytime seg- ment which featured fictional char- acters including Uncle Roy’s adopted daughter, Angela; Dickie Knee; Derek The Derro, Stinky and Sister Narelle. Bruce was appreciative of the ra- dio work, he told the late Amanda Zachariah of TV Week: “I am still ● Bruce Mansfield and Philip Brady had an on-air association of more than 25 years. ● Turn To Page 24 Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, April 20, 2016 - Page 23 ● Terry Dear, uncle of Bruce Mansfield ● Bruce Mansfield behind the 3UZ microphone ● Bruce Mansfield with Mary Hardy at 3XY PHOTO: ASH LONG ● “Big Bad Bruce’ at GTV-9
