An embarrassed publicist eventually bundled him from his room with a romantic friend to collect the award. He was always pushing the envelope. Inscription on a TV Week Award, 1959. 1934: Floyd Smith, A Killing in a Small Town . There was speculation as to his sexual preferences, though, for family reasons and because he never came out as such, this was kept under wraps and generally left unreported. DEBATING THE BARREL GIRL: THE RISE AND FALL OF PANDA LISNER. [5] Her first marriage to actor Francois Lisner ended in divorce in 1959. • "1969 Final Tarax Show". 1930: George Sabbagh, The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze ... Ilse Taurins, The Night of the Dancing Death . It involved ways of dropping a tablet into a glass of water and ensuring nothing quite turned out the way it should. He was incredibly adventurous. Kennedy's later habit of "rubbishing" the advertisers' products was also learned from Nicky. There was an IMT ballet, an orchestra, and segments were soon packaged for channels in other states Kennedy lived for the show. australianfoodtimeline.com.au. [1] In 1961, Panda Lisner married American entertainer Jimmy Allen and relocated to the United States of America. "He was just a natural. Australian television's "enfant terrible" may have given his station bosses palpitations, but, though some questioned his taste and suitability, most viewers and perceptive sponsors enjoyed the unpredictable. Lisner Auditorium 730 21st St Washington, DC 20052 Save money and time by reserving a parking space near Lisner Auditorium now. One of the more perceptive early comments about Kennedy's own personality came from quiz show star Bob Dyer. Hammond switched to HSV-7 in 1960, where The Happy Show, no longer sponsored by Tarax, featured Princess Panda (Panda Lisner), Lovely Anne (Anne Watt), Parer the Magician (Tommy Parer), Funny Face , Big John (John D'Arcy), Robbie Rob (Bob Horsfall), Cousin Roy (Roy Lyons) and Sylvester the Talking Sock (Ian Wiliams). (We also have lots of classic television commercials in the Prelinger collection.) - Angela O'Connor. - Julia Medew. He came up, with others, smiling. Nicky would send Kennedy out of the studio while he did ads for women's underwear, saying Kennedy was too young to hear them. He was just one out of the box. "He was a bit of a demon. He is known for his collaborations with Graham Kennedy and Don Lane. You didn't know what he was going to do next. "His humanity came through in the role of Harry. So what ever happened to Gra-Gra? 21 September 1960. With the help of Brown and Sattler, Kennedy bought a 60-hectare property near Bowral, which he called "Clydesdale". There, Kennedy relaxed with his beloved horses and dog Henry until ill health moved him into professional care in 2000. Yes, I am sad." ", Rod Kinnear (cameraman and director of IMT): "He combined a rapier-sharp wit with the ability to have natural fun. One long-running Kennedy favourite was the live commercial for Alka-Seltzer. His interviews, few and far between, were conducted by fax. I remember meeting him on the set of The Odd Angry Shot in Canungra, Queensland, in 1978, noting the respect of his fellow actors and hearing then how much he hoped the work put in would make the difference for him. Australian food history timeline. While Kennedy's adoring fans and the media consistently requested his attention during the '90s, Kennedy did not care to respond to them personally, reverting to fax messages to communicate instead. Bringing you classic television shows submitted by Internet Archive users since July 9th, 2007. He not only won a swag of gold, silver and bronze Logies, Australian television's biggest prize, but gave the award its name (after Scottish TV pioneer John Logie Baird). The mischievous host simply enjoyed a holiday. The entertainer, who had suffered several long illnesses in recent years, died, apparently from complications brought on by pneumonia, at a nursing home in the NSW southern highlands. This card was issued by Melbourne television station HSV Channel 7 during 1962. His timing, his delivery . TV Week - Wikipedia After appearing in a live commercial on In Melbourne Tonight with his friend Graham Kennedy at Easter 1959, he began to make regular appearances on the show and assumed hosting duties on some episodes. "It was his idea of bliss. Graham Kennedy, the always witty, sweetly irreverent and uniquely compelling entertainer who dominated the early glory years of Australian television, wore that mantle "King of Australian TV" with predictably amused ease. Now To Love. Peter Rhodes, brother of the late Allan Rhodes rang me in November to tell me of the death of Jimmy Allan, husband of Panda Lisner. meal while others leave it by the Door of Death opposite. In the early days of IMT we had running sheets with commercial breaks between acts. ... Lauren Brant announces the heartbreaking death of her sister-in-law following battle with cancer. first Australian television awards ceremony in 1959, "Gold and Silver Logie Awards, 1969 & 1970", Debating the Barrel Girl - The Rise and Fall of Panda Lisner, Edition Details: Graham Kennedy and Panda with other people, Winning a Gold Logie is not always a passport to stardom, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Panda_Lisner&oldid=1004250994, All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2018, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 1 February 2021, at 19:06. "He said he wanted a property where he could hug a Clydesdale," she said. 2009; Bye S. Sydney Tonight versus In Melbourne Tonight: Television, Taste and Identity. 1996 –. "It was Graham's timidity that created the comedy with Nicky. Tablets bounced out of the glass, floated and, apparently treated with waterproof paint, simply failed to fizz. And yesterday Australian television, struggling right now to understand its own role, lost its brightest star. She died in 2011 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The ease of his comic ad-libbing seemed to visiting performers to equal that of America's top TV chat comedy host Johnny Carson. Nothing quite lived up to IMT. Preferring to spend time with his animals and only the few friends he allowed to visit him periodically, Kennedy became well known for disguising himself to leave his home. Panda Lisner In Melbourne Tonight Nine Network. Graham Kennedy shared the first “most popular personality” award with his “barrel girl” Panda Lisner in 1959. Graham Kennedy was firstly a child of radio. His main claim to fame was on the Nicky and Graham morning show, as an offsider to radio personality Clifford Nicholls "Nicky" Whitta. Tagged: Panda Lisner. "He enjoyed putting his sunglasses, a cap and a big jacket on and going down to the local shops to buy his groceries and a newspaper incognito," Mangos, who worked with Kennedy on Coast To Coast, said. IMT featured the familiar variety mix of song-and-dance, comedy sketches, and some live-to-air commercials. He was different from night to night. She was married to Jimmy Allan and Francois Lisner. The ABC's Tom Gleeson is campaigning for Grant Denyer to win the Gold Logie this weekend, but a look at past winners suggests he might not … If Graham Kennedy is to be remembered for a single film role it would be in Bruce Beresford's film of Don's Party, where he depicted the jaded, deserted husband Mack. Relationship history. "It was not that he didn't want to see his audience any more, he was just exhausted. Panda Lisner relationship list. On 7 July 1965, Lane appeared on a then-innovative live split-screen link with Graham Kennedy via the cable. But on air he would play it both ways; he would be one of the blokes, lusting after a network beauty in a clip or photograph, or worrying Ken Sutcliffe with his affectionate knee squeeze. Under the tolerant management of GTV-9's managing director Colin Bednall and the skilful guidance of producer-director Rod Kinnear, Kennedy, together with writers and comedy performers, thrived on TV, eventually attracting the superstar treatment that once had only been given visiting comedians or rock singers from Britain or America. Small rectangular card printed with a black and white photograph of a woman wearing a tiara on one side, with blank reverse. 27 November 1998. He told me he hated to watch himself on screen because he didn't like his face. "He didn't like to watch rushes or to hear his voice. Panda Lisner dating history, 2021, 2020, list of Panda Lisner relationships. Panda Lisner (346 words) exact match in snippet view article find links to article from In Melbourne Tonight, Lisner also appeared on Astor Showcase, The Bob Dyer Show, The Panda Show, Merry Go Round and The Happy Show. Personalities like Corinne Kerby, Panda Lisner, and Toni Lamond were pivotal to the affective connection that many viewers forged with live, locally produced shows. It was Clifford Nicholls Whitta, known as Nicky, the 3UZ morning program host who gave a shy and timid Kennedy his start in 1950, using him as a foil while Kennedy worked as a panel operator. Panda Lisner was born on August 29, 1930 in Claremont, Perth, Western Australia, Australia as Joan Dorothy Kelly. Kennedy's flame continued to burn for TV audiences in the late 1970s and '80s with the ribald quizgame show Blankety Blanks, Graham Kennedy's World Of Comedy, Graham Kennedy's News Show and Coast To Coast (with Ken Sutcliffe, George Donikian and John Mangos) and ultimately, in 1990, as presenter of Australia's Funniest Home Videos. This began a professional partnership that continued for many years and a friendship that continued until Kennedy's death in 2005. Nicky died just before television started in 1956 and Kennedy said he would never get over it. She died in 2011 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. One of Kennedy's most fondly remembered and final film roles was as the jolly next-door neighbour in Travelling North. He'd say 'what will I speak about' and we'd say 'you'll think of something'. . Ron Rosenberg had spoken to Jimmy from time to time, however nobody including Ron knew where Jimmy was actually living in Melbourne. Graham Kennedy finally retreated from the Packers and TV 15 years ago, finding quiet comfort in the country, meeting and greeting old friends, talking now and then to those from his court, about the days of Joff Ellen, Ernie Carroll, Toni Lamond, Noel Ferrier, Fred Parsons, Mike McColl Jones and Bert. At one Logies presentation, certainly, Kennedy went missing during the show when the prizes were about to be handed out. Despite his reputation and famously caustic wit, Kennedy was nervous and vulnerable, says Julia Blake, who played opposite him in Travelling North. Critter (693 words) [view diff] exact match in snippet view article find links to article Television in all its glory was important to him. [citation needed], Lisner moved back to Australia before she died in 2011.[6]. It was created by Nick Giannopoulos, George Kapiniaris and Simon Palomares, who also starred in the series. A close up of the inscription on the TV Week award presented to Panda Lisner in January 1959 from In Melbourne Tonight. He understood the props, the lighting, audio levels, camera angles and audience demographics. It had Kennedy taken off air and, for a while, a delay on live television. "Graham was very ordinary but he had the common touch and could touch people's hearts.". And now, of course, with his passing at the age of 71 in the NSW town of Bowral, he completes that other too-familiar, destructive story of great comedians and humorists, the sorry farewell with the raging frustrations and the darker secrets that will be taken to the grave. He could turn a 30-second commercial into 15 minutes of comedy. Show Of The Year. Brady also recalled Kennedy's ability to sing and dance even though he was never trained. The glitter that seemed to follow him from television seemed to blind many to what could have followed in cinema. I realised afterwards that what he didn't like to see was his own vulnerability showing. He had already proved that in Don's Party (1976), and went on to break away from his TV image with David Williamson's The Club (1980), The Killing Fields (1984) and Travelling North (1987). [4], She was born in Claremont, Western Australia. Panda Lisner (born Joan Dorothy Kelly; 29 August 1930[1] – 2011) was an Australian television presenter, most notable for her work during the early days of Australian television. "Kennedy was very shy and could hardly put two words together," Brady said. There has never been an Australian performer who has mastered television so well, enjoyed such a long-lasting affair with the camera. Panda Lisner, In Melbourne Tonight . He was the master of taking his talents to the edge. The child from a broken marriage in Melbourne's suburban Balaclava had achieved moderate success working as a record librarian and then announcer at radio station 3UZ. They were already quite well known for their comedy stage … He felt like he'd done enough and he wanted another life," she said. it was, as always, just right. In Melbourne Tonight, also known as IMT, was a highly popular nightly Logie award-winning Australian variety television show produced at GTV-9 Melbourne from 6 May 1957 to 1970. And, importantly, thanks to Kennedy's cheeky, impatient take on the role, it became a talking point for Melburnians the following day at the railway stations and office tea breaks. Image. The show became a huge success for Nine for over 13 years and elevated Kennedy (pictured with ‘barrel girl’ Panda Lisner in 1959) to the point that he became dubbed ‘The King’. , says Kennedy was a performer who "just grasped television in the early days". Among his closest friends were writer Tony Sattler and actor Noeline Brown. He was a master of the ad-lib and Graham learned that from him.". It would say 'Graham speaks to audience'. — THE DOLLMAKER, "An American Folk Opera" by Carol Schoenhard, was presented by the opera work- "Without that radio experience, he might never have blossomed," Brady said. The show, IMT, and its young, energetic, bulbouseyed presenter proved an immediate hit with Melbourne audiences. "The Thief and the Hangman" by Abraham Ellstein with a libretto by Morton Wishengrad. 1934: Andrzej Buszewicz, Episode #1.45 [citation needed] 1930: Dene Hilyard, Vengeance . When director Tom Jeffrey saw Don's Party, he knew he had found the actor to play the cynical leader - and another troubled divorcee - of a regiment of Vietnam War servicemen in The Odd Angry Shot. ... She would return to Australia but kept a low profile until her death in 2011. Australian actress Kate Doherty portrayed Lisner in the 2007 biographical film about Graham Kennedy, The King. - Paul Kalina. It became the new TV channel's big selling point, five nights a week from 9.30pm. [citation needed]. This was our man of the medium and, whether it was to entertain, charm or "play star", he knew what was expected of him. "The most devoted youngster I have ever met; he eats and sleeps TV ... he is probably the loneliest young man in Australia," Dyer said. "He could go back to his room and prepare for the next day, and that's what he did.".