Australia's Amateur Hour

*Australia's Amateur Hour*
Australia's Amateur Hour
Genre	Talent contest, variety entertainment
Presented by	Harry Dearth; Dick Fair; Terry Dear; (Dear hosted both the radio and television version)
Country of origin	Australia
Original language	English
Production
Production locations	Homebush West, Sydney
Original release
Network	AWA (radio version); Seven Network and Nine Network (television version);
Release	Radio: 1940 - 1958; Television: August 1957 - 1958;

Australia's Amateur Hour was a talent quest, broadcast on Australian AM radio from 1940 to 1958,^[1] and a television spinoff, which ran for less than a year, 1957–1958.

The radio program began on Sydney's 2UW, compered by Harry Dearth,^[2] followed by Dick Fair, who developed it into Australia's most popular Sunday program, each week selecting ten contestants from around 100 hopefuls.^[3] From 24 August 1930 the show was broadcast on 2GB, produced and compered by Terry Dear.^[4] It was a popular, long-running, program on which many performers appeared.

The television version was also compered by Terry Dear, running from August 1957^[5] to February 1958 on Sydney's TCN-9 and Melbourne's HSV-7. The success of the radio version didn't translate to its television cousin, which closed after only seven months, the radio version following shortly after.

Episode status[edit]

Some episodes of the radio version are held by the National Film & Sound Archive.^[6] Although the television version was kinescoped so it could be shown in both Sydney and Melbourne, no copies are known to exist.

References[edit]

^ "Dearth, Fair, Dear in Closing Amateur Hour Presentation". Radio and Television Supplement. The Age. 7 November 1958. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
^ Combe, Diana R. (1993). "Dearth, Henry Alan (Harry) (1908–1964)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 13. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
^ Nancye Bridges (1983). Wonderful Wireless. Methuen. ISBN 045400513X.
^ "Terry Dear for Amateur Hour". The Sun (Sydney). No. 12647. New South Wales, Australia. 10 August 1950. p. 9. Retrieved 12 October 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
^ Musgrove, Nan (7 August 1957). "Television Parade". Australian Women's Weekly. p. 10. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
^ "AUSTRALIA'S AMATEUR HOUR". National Film & Sound Archive. Archived from the original on 26 June 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2022.

External links[edit]

Australia's Amateur Hour at IMDb

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[1] "Dearth, Fair, Dear in Closing Amateur Hour Presentation". Radio and Television Supplement. The Age. 7 November 1958. Retrieved 12 July 2013.

[2] Combe, Diana R. (1993). "Dearth, Henry Alan (Harry) (1908–1964)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 13. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 18 June 2021.

[Bridges-3] Nancye Bridges (1983). Wonderful Wireless. Methuen. ISBN 045400513X.

[Sun-4] "Terry Dear for Amateur Hour". The Sun (Sydney). No. 12647. New South Wales, Australia. 10 August 1950. p. 9. Retrieved 12 October 2023 – via National Library of Australia.

[5] Musgrove, Nan (7 August 1957). "Television Parade". Australian Women's Weekly. p. 10. Retrieved 12 July 2013.

[6] "AUSTRALIA'S AMATEUR HOUR". National Film & Sound Archive. Archived from the original on 26 June 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2022.

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Episode status[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]