The year 1959 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1959.
Eric Martin Andrew Banadinović,, known professionally as Eric Bana, is an Australian actor. He began his career in the sketch comedy series Full Frontal before gaining notice in the comedy drama The Castle (1997). He achieved further critical recognition for starring in the biographical crime film Chopper (2000), and as the titular character in Hulk (2003).
GTV is a commercial television station in Melbourne, Australia, owned by the Nine Network. The station is currently based at studios at 717 Bourke Street, Docklands. GTV-9 is the home of the Australian Open tennis coverage.
Harry Montague Hammond, professionally known as Happy Hammond, was an Australian comedian, radio host, children's television show host, and television producer.
The AWGIE Awards are annual awards given by the Australian Writers' Guild (AWG), for excellence in screen, television, stage, and radio writing. The 56th Annual AWGIE Awards ceremony is being held in Sydney on 15 February 2024.
Sir Eric Herbert Pearce, OBE was an English-born broadcaster and television pioneer in Australia.
Horace Andrew Dargie was an Australian musician, television compère, talent manager, music label founder and music arranger. As a member of Horrie Dargie Quintet he was awarded the first gold record in Australia for their 10-inch live album, Horrie Dargie Concert (1952), which sold 75,000 copies. In the late 1950s and early 1960s he compèred TV variety programmes Personally Yours (1959), BP Super Show (1959–1962) and The Delo and Daly Show (1963–1964). Dargie co-produced teen pop music programme, The Go!! Show (1964–1967), and as well as organising its on-screen performers he established the related Go!! Records label to provide an outlet for artists' singles. He was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1996. Dargie was married twice.
Paul Desmond Fitzgerald AM was an Australian portrait painter of prominent and celebrated individuals.
Campbell Copelin was an English actor, who moved to Australia in the 1920s and worked extensively in film, theatre, radio and television. He had a notable association with J.C. Williamson Ltd and frequently collaborated with F. W. Thring and Frank Harvey. He often played villains.
Rock 'n' Roll is a 1959 Australian film directed by Lee Robinson. While often referred to as a documentary, it is essentially a complete filming of a rock concert held in mid-October 1959, at Sydney Stadium. The film was commissioned by Lee Gordon to promote a string of 1959 shows titled Lee Gordon's 1959 Rock'n'Roll Spectacular, mainly showcasing Australian and New Zealand artists. While the show was largely based around native talent, its headline act was the American singer and pop idol Fabian Forte. Considered lost for decades, the film was rediscovered in 2020, restored, and is again being occasionally screened.
The One Day of the Year is a 1958 Australian play by Alan Seymour about contested attitudes to Anzac Day.
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.
In Melbourne Today was an early Australian television series, which aired in two versions in the 1950s, on Melbourne station GTV-9. It was Australia's first breakfast television series.
The General Motors Hour was an Australian radio and television drama series.
"The Mystery of a Hansom Cab" is a 1961 Australian television drama play based on Barry Pree's 1961 play adaptation of the novel by Fergus Hume. It appeared as an episode of the anthology series The General Motors Hour. It aired on 6 August 1961 in Sydney and on 19 August 1961 in Melbourne.
Heart Attack is a 1960 Australian television play written by George F. Kerr. It was recorded in Melbourne, broadcast "live" there, recorded and shown later on Sydney television. It was received with notably critical hostility. It was one of several thrillers filmed in early Australian television.
Rodney Scott Kinnear was an Australian director, best known for his work in TV.
"Thunder on Sycamore Street" is a 1960 Australian television play directed by David Cahill. It was based on a script by Reginald Rose. It aired on 23 July 1960 in Melbourne and Sydney.
3DB was a Melbourne-based radio station that opened in 1927, changed its name to 3TT in 1988, and now operates on the FM band as KIIS 101.1.
"The Grey Nurse Said Nothing" is a television play episode from the Australian television series The General Motors Hour. It was produced and directed by David Cahill, and is based on the real life murder of Jim Smith, the so-called Shark Arm case. It was made by Channel Seven who later called "the most ambitious dramatic production ever attempted in Australia... [written by] one of the world's foremost authors of television plays and the cast is Ihe largest ever assembled for an Australian television dramatic production.... the greatest care has been taken to achieve the maximum possible standard in the production of the play which covered a total period of approximately eight weeks." The episode aired on 28 May 1960 in Sydney and Melbourne, and on 11 June 1960 in Brisbane.
