Richard Edward Fair (17 November 1907 – 20 July 1982) was an Australian actor of stage and screen and radio compere and producer, who also did voice.over. He is best known for hosting the enormously popular radio shows ''

Australia's Amateur Hour ''Australia's Amateur Hour'' was an important early Australian radio and television program in the form of a talent contest, which was broadcast from 1940 to 1958, which also aired briefly on television from 1957 to 1958. The radio version was ...

'' and 'Australia's Hour of Song', a

community singing Sing-along, also called community singing or group singing, is an event of singing together at gatherings or parties, less formally than choir singing. One can use a songbook. Common genres are folk songs, patriotic songs, kids' songs, spiritual ...

hour with guest performers.Dick Fair
at

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

He occasionally acted under the name Grant Lyndsay.

Biography

Early life and study

Fair was born in

Mosman, New South Wales Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governm ...

, to Richard Edward Fair Snr, Canadian-born contractor and his second wife Emily Gertrude Kennedy, from Victoria, he attended St. Aloysius College and St.Ignatius College, and studied voice production and attending Andrew McCann's acting school

Stage and film

Fair made his stage debut in a production of ''The Terror'' aged 19, and worked for numerous theatre companie's including Maurice Moscovitch Company, and J.C. Williamson Ltd. and toured with

Bert Bailey Albert Edward Bailey (11 June 1868 – 30 March 1953), better known as Bert Bailey, was a New Zealand-born Australian playwright, theatrical manager and stage and screen actor best known for playing Dad Rudd, in both mediums, the character from ...

in ''The Patsy'' He appeared in several film roles including the Ken Hall produced ''

On Our Selection ''On Our Selection'' (1899) is a series of stories written by Australian author Steele Rudd, the pen name of Arthur Hoey Davis, in the late 1890s, featuring the characters Dad and Dave Rudd. The original edition of the book was illustrated by ...

'' and '' The Squatter's Daughter''

Radio compere and entertainer

Fair commenced a successful run in radio, from 1935, with a breakfast program at

2SM 2SM is an Australian radio station, licensed to and serving Sydney, broadcasting on 1269 kilohertz on the AM band. It is owned and operated by Broadcast Operations Group. The SM call sign is taken from the initials of Saint Mary's. 2SM's progra ...

, before joining rival station

2GB 2GB is a commercial radio station in Sydney, Australia owned by parent company Nine Radio, a division of Nine Entertainment Co., who also own sister station 2UE. 2GB broadcasts on 873 kHz, AM. In 2010, 2GB held 14.7% of the total rad ...

in 1937 and singing on The Jack Davey Show, consequently released from his contract, he was signed to host both the ''Lux Radio Theatre'' and ''Australia Amateur Hour'', both first at 2UE then at

2UW KIIS 1065 (call sign: 2WFM) is a commercial broadcasting, commercial FM radio station in Sydney, Australia, on a frequency of 106.5 MHz. KIIS 1065 is one of the flagship stations on Australian Radio Network, ARN's KIIS Network. The station's ...

,the program that had started as a Sydney-based program, soon. went nationwide broadcast to capital cities, he would take over as a producer of the latter, when his co-star Harry Dearth was drafted in the Air Force, Dearth returning to the program in 1946 and finding the travel arduous, he resigned in 1950. In 1952, the returned to radio 2UEto host the equally successful Australia's Hour of Song, that was broadcast over 49 nine stations the program would feature singers includoing Peter Dawson and

Gladys Moncrieff Gladys Moncrieff (13 April 1892 – 8 February 1976) was an Australian singer who was so successful in musical theatre and recordings that she became known as 'Australia's Queen of Song' and 'Our Glad'. Life and career Early years Moncrieff ...

, he worked as an announcer of serials, commercials, and various chat. He went freelance as a producer in 1960, working at 2CH for some ten years, after which he returned to 2GB for a late night music program.

Personal life

Fair married Agnes Margaret McLeod on 23 September 1933, at St. Mary's Basilica with Catholic rites. He was involved in a court case, by his landlady in 1958, who sought that he be evicted from her Vaucluse home, under the grounds of being frequently drunk and disorderly, twice setting fire to bedding and playing music late at night on full volume. He won the case and remained in the apartment until 1963. For most of his life, Fair had resided in the Eastern Suburbs, moving into a nursing home in

Normanhurst, New South Wales Normanhurst is a suburb in the Northern Sydney region, or Upper North Shore of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 22 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Hornsby Sh ...

1974, where he died on 20 July 1982.

Filmography

References

External links

* *
Dick Fair
at

Clips featuring Dick Fair (as "Grant Lyndsay") from ''The Squatters Daughter''
* Clip from

British Pathé British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

of Dick Fair introducing a boy music prodigy, 1948

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fair, Dick 1907 births 1982 deaths Male actors from Sydney 20th-century Australian male actors Australian people of Canadian descent