Bert Newton funeral live updates Public service for Australian TV icon to be held in Melbourne
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Bert Newton’s widow Patti has arrived with at St Patrick’s Cathedral for the state funeral of her late husband.
Well wishers yelled, “We love you, Patti†as she stepped out of a white limousine with her grandkids and waved to the crowds outside the church.
Those who have already arrived for the service include TV and radio veteran Pete Smith, who will deliver a tribute to his longtime friend on behalf of Patti Newton and the family. Former chat show host and TV comedian Steve Vizard has also joined those paying respect to the four-time Logie winner.
Latest postsBert Newton was a star, an icon, a legend, an institution and all the other accolades we’re hearing spoken in his honour as the nation mourns him. But, above all, he was great at being on television. He took to the medium like a duck to water, or a NSW premier to an ICAC hearing. He made it look effortless â€" and he was so outlandishly talented that for him, it probably was.
I had the pleasure of going on Good Morning Australia back in 2005 to plug a Chaser book, and Bert good-naturedly praised it as though he’d devoured every word. It was his sixth-last show doing three hours, five mornings a week, and we were chuffed to be invited.
The show was completely live â€" in other words, in Bert’s element â€" but I wasn’t used to being on camera, and was terrified that I’d screw up. But he was incredibly warm and kind and, for a few brief minutes, Bert made me feel like we were old friends, before the show inexorably rolled on to the next segment, presumably with Moira promoting some breakthrough exercise device.
Read Dom Knight’s full tribute to Bert here.
Bert Newton was a legend whose star soared out of the infancy of Australian television. At 83, he was older than the technology which made him a household name, and since its inception in Australia his face had become a much-loved round peg in a much-loved square hole.
It is difficult to capture the wattage of Newton’s early stardom, except to imagine, if you will, a world where there are just a handful of television channels, each commanding what would seem now like record-breaking ratings. In those days, single channels were empires. And the fortunes of many rose and fell around them.
Muhammad Ali and Bert Newton at the 21st Logie Awards in 1979.Credit:Bruce Postle
The infancy of Australian television gave us Graham Kennedy and Bobby Limb, it gave us Don Lane and Jimmy Hannan and Bob and Dolly Dyer. It gave us people you won’t even remember, like current affairs host Howard Craven and tonight show host Keith Walshe. And it gave us Bert Newton.
Newton was a handsome, round-faced kid with bright eyes armed with two things that set him apart: a radio voice which spoke well in the era of “radio with pictures†and an enthusiasm that was pivotal at a time when it was incumbent on the on-air talent to liven up the otherwise dreary 625-line deep black and white PAL television image.
At the same time, Newton was a walking, talking contradiction.
Read more here.
Throughout his astonishing career, Bert Newton found a home at each of the three major commercial networks, so it’s only fitting that they will each be covering the state funeral today.
It will also be broadcast on Sky News and the ABC, and live-streamed on this masthead’s Facebook page.
For many years, Bert was ubiquitous. He started at Seven in 1957, when he was just 19 years old, moved to Nine (the owner of this masthead) in 1959, picked up a surprise late wind on Ten from 1992, and saw out his final TV years back on Nine from 2006 to 2012 (a spell during which he was reportedly paid a whopping $800,000 a year).
Newton’s passing doesn’t just signal the end of an almighty career â€" it marks the severing of one of the last remaining links to the earliest days of television in this country.
It really is the end of an era, one that stretched across seven decades. It’s not just hyperbole to say we will never see his like again.
Good morning. The state funeral service for Bert Newton, who died on October 30 at the age of 83, will be held at St Patrick’s Cathedral, East Melbourne, today. Doors open to the public at 8.45am and the service itself is slated to begin at 10.
Bert is the second big name in entertainment to receive a state funeral this year, following Mushroom Records founder Michael Gudinski’s send-off in March. But this will be a much more sedate affair, with 500 guests expected to attend. By contrast, around 5000 were invited to Gudinski’s farewell bash at Rod Laver Arena, which was as much a concert as a memorial.
Bert Newton will be farewelled at a state funeral in Melbourne on Friday. Credit:Simon Schluter
Father Werner Utri, the dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral, will open today’s proceedings with a welcome, and Silvie Paladino will sing the national anthem. Then premier Daniel Andrews will speak on behalf of the people of Victoria, and Eddie McGuire will share some personal words of remembrance.
Anthony Callea will sing The Prayer, the song he first sang to the nation in the grand final of Australian Idol in 2004, with John Foreman â€" Bert’s musical director for 12 years of Good Morning Australia â€" on piano.
Then Pete Smith, for so many years the voice of Nine, will deliver a tribute on behalf of the Newton family, after which the requiem mass will follow. The service is expected to wind up around 11.30am.
Read Bert Newton’s obituary here.
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