THE KING IS DEAD

The King is dead. The king of Australian television is dead. Graham Kennedy. He had a love affair with the camera lens and the Australian audience. He invaded Aussie living rooms for years and was welcomed. They called him the Master. The Master of the rehearsed ad lib. One of the hardest workers in the industry. As TV veteran Sam Chisholm said today “he wrote the book”.

He was a complex character. Undoubtedly the most successful performer ever on Australian TV. He was also successful on radio. He was a great performer in movies like The Club and Don’s Party and even in a dog of a film called The Odd Angry Shot. Kennedy and Bert Newton were undoubtedly the best Abbot and Costello combination that Australia has ever seen.

But he was almost a loner. And after he walked away from the business he deliberately had few friends. As I said – a complex character. A touch of the Tony Hancock’s. I know one producer who worked with him for six months on that extraordinary “news” programme called Coast to Coast. They worked together for six months and he never once spoke to Kennedy. He had to slip fax messages under the star’s door.

Journalists who got rare interviews with The King had to communicate the same way.

He became increasingly reclusive and, in retirement, hit the red wine very hard. He had a bad fall which caused serious head injuries. He trusted only a few people like comedian and neighbour Noelene Brown.

I’m told he was a great cook and a great host before he withdrew into country solitude.

The obituaries will make much of his solitude and his almost fanatical protection of his private life. My theory is that because, at the peak of his fame, he was paranoid that his awesome audience would discover that that he was gay. I know several of his male lovers from back then. Nothing necessarily wrong with that as Seinfeld would say.

But remember, that this was at a time when if the word got out you were a poofter, it would destroy your career. The famous singer Johnny Ray almost got sprung in Sydney and lived in fear of international exposure.

That’s why it was such a joke when the magazines made front page headlines about Graham Kennedy getting engaged to singer Lana Cantrell. He was gay and she was a lesbian. You wouldn’t know which way to turn.

But the undisputed king of Australian TV is dead at 71. I doubt we will ever see a star of his stature again.

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

©Copyright Derryn Hinch 2005