The 1st Annual

TV Week ''TV Week'' is a weekly Australian magazine that provides television program listings information and highlights, as well as television-related news. Content ranges from previews for upcoming storylines of popular television programs, particu ...

Logie Awards The Logie Awards (officially the TV Week Logie Awards; colloquially known as The Logies) is an annual gathering to celebrate Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''TV Week''. The first ceremony was held in 1959 as the ...

(as they would come to be known) were the first awards ever to be awarded for work within the Australian television industry. Television had begun production in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

only three years earlier, in 1956.

Synopsis

Although other cities had television (

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

since its inception in 1956), the awards were for

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

television only. In 1959 the awards were given out during an episode of In Melbourne Tonight, with international star

Googie Withers Georgette Lizette Withers, CBE, AO (12 March 191715 July 2011), known professionally as Googie Withers, was an English entertainer who was a dancer and actress with a lengthy career spanning some nine decades in theatre, film, and television. ...

appearing as a guest host. Awards were given in only eight categories, two of which were for

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

programmes.

Awards

TV Star of the Year

The most prestigious award was the TV Star of the Year Award, which the following year in 1960 would become renamed as the Gold Logie. The star of the year was awarded to Graham Kennedy and

Panda Lisner Panda Lisner (born Joan Dorothy Kelly; 29 August 1930 – 2011) was an Australian model and television presenter, most notable for her work during the early days of Australian television. Lisner is arguably best known for her time as a "barrel ...

for their program '' In Melbourne Tonight'', for the Nine Network (GTV-9).

National

;TV Show of the Year :''Winner:'' :'' In Melbourne Tonight'', GTV-9 ;Most Popular Children's Show :''Winner:'' :'' The Happy Show'', GTV-9 ;Most Popular Overseas Variety Show :''Winner:'' :'' The Perry Como Show''. Como was presented with his award by George McCadden, the chief of ''TV Weeks American office, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on 11 April 1959. ;Most Popular Overseas Drama :''Winner:'' :'' Perry Mason'' ;Outstanding Sports Presentation :''Winner:'' : ABC Melbourne's Sporting Department for their coverage of events such as the

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

, Test Cricket and the Australian Tennis Open ;Outstanding Performance :''Winner:'' : Bill Collins, ''

Sunnyside Up ''Sunnyside-Up'' was a black and white weekly variety program produced at HSV-7 Melbourne, during the late 1950s until the mid 1960s. Surviving Kinescope episodes sometimes presented the title in three words as “Sunny Side Up“ and with a 3 ...

'', HSV-7

External links

*
Australian Television: 1959-1961 Logie AwardsTV Week Logie Awards: 1959
1959 in Australian television 1959 television awards

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

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