Terence Joseph Willesee (born 27 April 1945) is an Australian retired journalist and television and radio presenter.

Personal life

Willesee is the son of the

Don Willesee Donald Robert Willesee (14 April 19169 September 2003) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served as a Senator for Western Australia from 1950 to 1975. He held ministerial office in the Whitlam ...

, a long-time member of the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter ...

and Whitlam Government minister. He is the brother of the late

Mike Willesee Michael Robert Willesee, (29 June 1942 – 1 March 2019) was an Australian television journalist, interviewer and presenter. Willesee was the son of politician senator Don Willesee; Mike first came to prominence in 1967 as a reporter for the ...

, who was also a journalist and television presenter.

Career

Willesee began his media career in Perth in 1969. He initially worked as a television news reporter before branching out into newsreading and producing documentaries. He produced and presented 14 prime time documentaries for

STW STW is an Australian television station owned by the Nine Network that is based in Perth, Western Australia. ''STW'' broadcasts from a shared facility transmitter mast located in Carmel. The station callsign, ''STW'', is an acronym of Swan Tel ...

TV station in Perth. In 1981 Willesee was signed by the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

to present a successful national current affairs program named ''Terry Willesee Tonight'', based in Sydney. Terry was then signed by 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 ...

.No farewells for Willesee as Seven wields axe, The Sunday Telegraph, 3 April 1988, Page 15 Terry's role on the 7 current affairs show went to

Derryn Hinch Derryn Nigel Hinch (born 9 February 1944) is a New Zealand-born media personality, politician, actor, journalist and published author. He is best known for his career in Australia, on Melbourne radio and television. He served as a Senator for V ...

. Terry Willesee hosted, Live at 5, on the 9 network with Jo Pearson. He was also utilized by the network to host a variety of programmes including the "Today" show. ''

Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It w ...

'' and ''

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 ...

''. Willesee in 1992 moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

where he anchored the nationally syndicated program, A Current Affair Extra. He also travelled the country as a reporter for ''

'' (not related to Nine Network's programme of the same name). He was later promoted to anchor the Fox network's national programme, ''A Current Affair Extra''. He was probably the first Australian to host his own current affairs show on US television. After three years in the United States he moved back to Australia, reading news for Nine Network affiliate STW in Perth. While in Perth he occasionally hosted a talkback radio show for

6PR 6PR, known as 882 6PR, is a commercial radio station based in Perth, Western Australia. Owned by Nine Entertainment, its focus is on news, talk and sport, and is Perth's only commercial talkback radio station. It commenced broadcasting on 14 Oc ...

. In 2001, Willesee presented a talkback radio show for Sydney radio 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 2002, Terry returned to national television where he anchored ''Willesee Across Australia'' on

Sky News Australia Sky News Australia is an Australian news channel owned by News Corp Australia. Originally launched on 19 February 1996, it broadcasts rolling news coverage throughout the day, while its prime time lineup is dedicated to opinion-based programs f ...

. He later presented ''

First Edition The bibliographical definition of an edition includes all copies of a book printed from substantially the same setting of type, including all minor typographical variants. First edition According to the definition of ''edition'' above, a b ...

'' in 2002 until June 2013 when he retired. Willesee has also worked as a media trainer.

Awards

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 ...

– Most Popular Male (Western Australia): 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Willesee, Terry Australian television presenters Living people 1945 births