Darrell Eastlake (11 July 1942 – 19 April 2018) was an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

radio and television presenter, commentator and sports journalist, best known for his long association with the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

. Prior to his media career, Eastlake worked as a

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...

baggage handler In the airline industry, a baggage handler is a person who loads and unloads baggage (suitcases or luggage), and other cargo (airfreight, mail, counter-to-counter packages) for transport via aircraft. With most airlines, the formal job title i ...

, before making surfboards and running a surf shop. His career in broadcasting began in the 1960s when he gave surf reports on Sydney radio station 2UW (now known as

KIIS 106.5 KIIS 1065 (call sign: 2WFM) is a commercial FM radio station in Sydney, Australia, on a frequency of 106.5 MHz. KIIS 1065 is one of the flagship stations on ARN's KIIS Network. The station's headline show is ''The Kyle and Jackie O Show''. ...

Motor racing

During the mid-1970s, Eastlake dabbled in motor racing when he drove a

Leyland P76 The Leyland P76 is a large car that was produced by Leyland Australia, the Australian subsidiary of British Leyland. Featuring what was described at the time as the "standard Australian wheelbase of 111 inches", it was intended to provide the ...

, infrequently, in the Touring Car category .

Broadcasting

Eastlake had been calling

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

for NBN-3 in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

before he began working for the Nine Network in 1982, commentating on the

weightlifting Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift Weight training#Equipment, weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various t ...

at the

1982 Commonwealth Games The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the a ...

. Eastlake also provided colourful commentary for

Nine's Wide World of Sports ''Nine's Wide World of Sports'' is a long running sports anthology brand on Australian television that airs on the Nine Network and streaming service Stan. All major sports, events and series covered by the network are broadcast under this br ...

and its coverage of events including

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Oval ...

telecasts for a decade from the mid-1980s working with others such as

Ken Sutcliffe Ken Sutcliffe (born 15 November 1947) is an Australian sporting journalist and radio and television personality. Career Sutcliffe was born in Oberon, New South Wales and grew up in Mudgee. He started his radio career in 1966 in Mudgee, followe ...

Ray Warren Raymond Warren OAM (born 11 June 1943) is a retired Australian sports commentator, known for his coverage of televised professional rugby league matches on the Nine Network. He is known as the "Voice of Rugby League", and called 99 State of O ...

, Mike Gibson, Ian Maurice, and 'Supercoach'

Jack Gibson Jack Gibson may refer to: * Jack Gibson (rugby league) (1929–2008), Australian player and coach * Jack Stanley Gibson (1909–2005), Irish physician * Jack Gibson (ice hockey, born 1880) (1880–1955), ice hockey player and executive * Jack Gibs ...

as well as former players Mick Cronin, Peter Sterling and

Paul Vautin Paul Vautin (born 21 July 1959) nicknamed Fatty, is an Australian football commentator and formerly a professional rugby league footballer, captain and coach. He has provided commentary for the Nine Network's coverage of rugby league since join ...

. During his media career, Eastlake was noted for his over-the-top voice and loud antics aimed at raising the excitement of listeners or viewers, providing commentary for weightlifting and motorsport. This trait was parodied by

Billy Birmingham Billy Birmingham (born 1953) is an Australian humourist and sometime sports journalist, most noted for his parodies of Australian cricket commentary in recordings under The Twelfth Man name. Early career He wrote the pun-laden comedy hit " Au ...

in his

The Twelfth Man The Twelfth Man (also known as The 12th Man) is the name for a series of comedy productions by Australian satirist Billy Birmingham. Birmingham, a skilled impersonator, is generally known for parodying Australian sports commentators' voices. ...

sporting commentary impersonations, including his Eastlake signature of (with a rising voice) "taking the voice back up to the threshold of pain". He is best remembered for presenting broadcasts of the 500cc Motorcycle World Championship alongside former

Grand Prix motorcycle racing Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start ...

World Champion

Barry Sheene Barry Steven Frank Sheene (11 September 1950 – 10 March 2003) was a British professional motorcycle racer. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing even ...

, and for presenting

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

races with former Formula One World Champion Alan Jones. He also presented the British Open Golf championships.Eastlake larger than life – Hill
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Personal life

In 1993 (aged 54) Eastlake suffered a heart attack while commentating at Kurrawa on the Gold Coast for the

Australian Surf Life Saving Championships The Australian Surf Life Saving Championships known as The Aussies is the national Surf lifesaving championships for Australia. It is the largest surf lifesaving event in Australia and the largest event of its kind in the world. It is organised b ...

. He was revived at the scene by Surf Life Savers and transported to hospital, where he suffered a second attack. Eastlake retired from the media in 2006 and fell ill in 2010 with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

dementia Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...

and

emphysema Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alve ...

brought on by years of being a heavy cigarette smoker. On 19 April 2018, Eastlake died in a nursing home where he lived on the

New South Wales Central Coast The Central Coast is a peri-urban region in New South Wales, Australia, lying on the Tasman Sea coast to the north of Sydney and south of Newcastle. The local government area of the Central Coast Council has an estimated population of 33 ...

References

External links

* *
Darrell Eastlake
interview of

A Current Affair ''A Current Affair'' may refer to: * ''A Current Affair'' (Australian TV program), 1971–present Australian current affairs program that airs on Nine Network * ''A Current Affair'' (American TV program), a 1986–1998 American television news ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eastlake, Darrell 1942 births 2018 deaths Australian television presenters Motorsport announcers Australian rugby league commentators Golf writers and broadcasters Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Deaths from dementia in Australia