The year 1958 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1958.
Rodney Sturt Taylor was an Australian actor. He appeared in more than 50 feature films, including Young Cassidy (1965), Nobody Runs Forever (1968), The Train Robbers (1973) and A Matter of Wife... and Death (1975).
Ronald Grant Taylor was an English-Australian actor best known as the abrasive General Henderson in the Gerry Anderson science fiction series UFO and for his lead role in Forty Thousand Horsemen (1940).
The Garry Moore Show is the name for several separate American variety series on the CBS television network in the 1950s and 1960s. Hosted by experienced radio performer Garry Moore, the series helped launch the careers of many comedic talents, such as Dorothy Loudon, Don Adams, George Gobel, Carol Burnett, Don Knotts, Lee Goodman, James Kirkwood, Jr., Lily Tomlin, and Jonathan Winters. The Garry Moore Show garnered a number of Emmy nominations and wins.
Raymond Edward Menmuir was a British-Australian director and producer. His career included producing 44 episodes of The Professionals and directing 12 episodes of Upstairs, Downstairs. He also produced an Australian version of The Professionals called Special Squad for the Ten Network in 1984.
Neva Carr Glyn or Neva Carr Glynn was an Australian stage, film and radio actress born in Melbourne to Arthur Benjamin Carr Glyn, a humorous baritone and stage manager born in Ireland, and Marie Carr Glyn, née Marie Dunoon Senior, an actress with the stage name "Marie Avis". She had one half-sister Gwendoline Arnold O'Neill and two half-brothers Sacheverill Arnold Mola and Rupert Arnold Mola. She was named "Neva" after a great-aunt, who was a contralto of some quality. Both spellings of her surname appear in print roughly equally and apparently arbitrarily.
Rex Rienits was an Australian writer of radio, films, plays and TV. He was a journalist before becoming one of the leading radio writers in Australia. He moved to England in 1949 and worked for a number of years there. He later returned to Australia and worked on early local TV drama.
Shell Presents was an early attempt at Australian television drama, being an umbrella title for several different productions. It debuted on 4 April 1959, and aired on ATN-7 and GTV-9, who split production of plays for the series between them. It was an anthology series, each program being a self-contained play for television. The series won a Logie award in 1960 for TV Highlight of 1959. As the title suggests, it was sponsored by Shell. It was described as "a very big deal for the station: major institutional sponsorship from international companies for locally produced drama." It would be followed by The General Motors Hour.
Stormy Petrel is an early Australian television drama. A period drama, the 12-episode serial told the story of William Bligh and aired in 1960 on ABC. It was the first live TV serial from the ABC.
Cafe Continental was an Australian television variety series which aired from 1958 to 1961 on ABC. Hosted by Czech-born entertainer Hal Wayne, it featured guests of a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds and aired fortnightly, alternating with Hal Lashwood's Alabama Jubilee, a minstrel series. Producers of the series were Harry Pringle (1958–60) and Peter Page (1961). The series featured a Café setting and was broadcast live. It is not confirmed how many episodes still exist, but at least seven episodes are held by the National Film and Sound Archive, and an additional episode may be held by National Archives of Australia.
Make Ours Music was an Australian music television series which aired from 1958 to circa 1961 on ABC. Produced in Sydney, it also aired in Melbourne. Originally a half-hour series, it later expanded to an hour. Make Ours Music featured a mix of live songs and dance numbers.
Shower of Stars is an Australian television series which aired in 1959 on Sydney station ATN-7. It was a variety show with comedy and music, and regulars included Hal Lashwood, Syd Heylen, and Al Thomas. It was originally presented live on Tuesdays at 10:00PM, but later moved to Fridays. It was a 60-minute black-and-white series, running time excluding commercials is unknown. Archival status is unknown.
The General Motors Hour was an Australian radio and television drama series.
Phillip Grenville Mann was an Australian actor, playwright, stage director and manager, and writer.
Hamlet is a 1959 Australian TV play starring William Job and produced by Royston Morley.
Murder Story is a 1958 Australian television play.
Burst of Summer is a 1959 play by Oriel Gray. It won the 1959 J. C. Williamson's Little Theatre Guild Award, and was later adapted for radio and TV. It was Gray's last produced play.
Harold Francis Lashwood, professionally known as Hal Lashwood, was an Australian vaudeville performer, dancer, radio and theatre entertainer, television personality, quiz host, unionist and councillor. A well-known performer in radio, he worked opposite Roy Rene in his various "Mo" performances, usually as a straightman. He would later do the same for Syd Heylen on HSV 7's long running TV variety series Sunny Side Up in the 50's/60's.
Michael Plant (1930–1965) was an Australian screenwriter, actor and producer best known for co-creating Whiplash.
The Flying Doctor is a popular British radio series that aired on the BBC Light Programmes about the Australian flying doctor service. It started in 1958 and went on until 1963.
