John Maxwell Cryer (10 December 1935 – 25 August 2021), generally known as Max Cryer, was a New Zealand television producer and presenter, radio broadcaster, entertainment producer, singer, cabaret performer and writer.

Early life and education

Cryer was born in

Ōtāhuhu Ōtāhuhu is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand – to the southeast of the CBD, on a narrow isthmus between an arm of the Manukau Harbour to the west and the Tamaki River estuary to the east. The isthmus is the narrowest connection between th ...

in 1935, the son of

East Tāmaki East Tāmaki is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is a largely industrial area adjacent to a rapidly growing population. Prior to the 1960s it was largely a dairy farming area. A landmark is Smales Mountain which in 2010 has the remains of ...

farmer Arthur John "Jack" Cryer and his wife Jane Stewart. He began learning the piano at the age of five and later played the double bass in the Auckland Junior Symphony Orchestra. He graduated from the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

in 1958, and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

with second-class honours in etymology and linguistics in 1959. After graduating in 1960, Cryer spent a year in Perugia, Italy studying singing and Italian.

Career

While studying in Italy in 1960, Cryer earned money as a model and film extra. He then moved to London where he sang with the

Sadlers Wells Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-sea ...

Company. Returning to New Zealand, he taught English and music at Otahuhu College and also began appearing on television as an interviewer and as host of quiz show '''Top of the Form'''. Cryer hosted an entertainment show called Cryer and the children''' which ran for 10 years and resulted in 15 albums of songs. In 1977 he moved into TV production producing programmes such as ''Mastermind'' and ''University Challenge.'' He continued to perform as a narrator and on stage. Roles included Henry Higgins in ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play '' Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons ...

,'' Danilo in ''

The Merry Widow ''The Merry Widow'' (german: Die lustige Witwe, links=no ) is an operetta by the Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt ...

,'' Prince Orlovsky in ''

Die Fledermaus ' (, ''The Flittermouse'' or ''The Bat'', sometimes called ''The Revenge of the Bat'') is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée, which premiered in 1874. Background The original li ...

,'' and the King of Siam in ''

The King and I ''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the chil ...

.'' Cryer was a host for radio and TV events including the first TV coverage of the Mobil Song Awards in 1963, and in 1969 the first nationwide simulcast of TV and radio and the first time TV was linked throughout New Zealand. In addition to his TV and radio work he also wrote columns for the

New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

and the

New Zealand Woman's Weekly The ''New Zealand Woman's Weekly'' is a weekly New Zealand women's magazine published by Are Media. , it had a circulation of 82,040, third by paid sales after ''TV Guide'' and ''New Zealand Woman's Day''. History On 8 December 1932, journalist ...

and published a number of books. He served on boards for the

Auckland Festival Formerly known as Auckland Festival, Auckland Arts Festival or is an annual arts and cultural festival held in Auckland, New Zealand. The Festival features works from New Zealand, the Pacific, Asia and beyond, including world premieres of new wor ...

, Central Theatre, Northern Opera and was a judge for the Watties Book Award.

Honours and awards

Cryer's awards include New Zealand Entertainer of the Year in 1974, the Variety Artists of New Zealand's Benny Award in 1977 and the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal for services to New Zealand. In the

1995 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1995 were appointments by most of the sixteen Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other co ...

, he was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

for services to entertainment. Cryer died, suddenly, on 25 August 2021, aged 85.

Works

* ''Cat Miscellany'' (Blake Publishing 2005) * ''Curious Kiwi Words'' (HarperCollins 2002) * ''Curious Questions'' (HarperCollins 2001) * ''Curious Thoughts'' (HarperCollins 2002) * ''Curious'' (Exisle, 2012) * ''Curious English words and phrases: The truth behind the expressions we use'' (2020) * ''Day by Day'' (Harper Moa Beckett, 1988) * ''Every Dog Has Its Day'' (Exile 2013) * ''Hear Our Voices, We Entreat'' (Exile 2004) * ''Is It True ??'' (Exile 2014) , * ''Love Me Tender'' (Exile 2008) * ''Max Vocab'', with Cherie Brown (Harcourt Education, 2004) * ''Max Vocab: Fun Lessons in the English Language'' with Cherie Brown (

Raupo Publishing Reed Publishing (NZ) Ltd (formerly A. H. Reed Ltd and A. H. and A. W. Reed Ltd) was one of the leading publishers in New Zealand. It was founded by Alfred Hamish Reed and his wife Isabel in 1907. Reed's nephew Alexander Wyclif Reed joined the fi ...

(NZ) Ltd. 2004) * ''Max Vocab: Journeys in the English Language'' with Cherie Brown (

(NZ) Ltd. 2004) * ''More Curious Questions'' ( HarperCollins, 2003) * ''New Zealand Day by Day'' (Harper Moa Beckett, 1988) * ''Preposterous Proverbs'' (Exile 2011) * ''Superstitions: And why we have them'' (Exisle Publishing 2016) * ''The Godzone Dictionary'' (Exile 2006) * ''The Godzone Dictionary (Expanded Second edition)'' (Exile 2020) * ''The Mastermind Quiz Book'' (BCNZ Enterprises,1985) * ''Town Cryer'' (Collins, Auckland, 1978) * ''Who Said That First'' (Exile 2010) * ''The Cat's Out Of The Bag'' (Exile 2015)

References

External links

AudioCulture profile - Max Cryer
*
Max Cryer: Language evolution @ the cutting edge
at TEDxAuckland, 2015
Cryer Remembered As Showbiz Through And Through, Stuff.co.nz Obituary

Stuff.co.nz Obituary: Max Cryer - an entertaining man of mystery, 4 September 2021
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cryer, Max 1935 births 2021 deaths People from Auckland University of Auckland alumni New Zealand television presenters New Zealand television directors New Zealand radio presenters New Zealand radio journalists New Zealand television journalists 20th-century New Zealand male opera singers New Zealand non-fiction writers New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire 21st-century New Zealand journalists 20th-century New Zealand journalists 21st-century New Zealand non-fiction writers 20th-century New Zealand non-fiction writers