Gary Bernard O'Callaghan (11 October 1933 − 19 August 2017) was an Australian radio announcer based in Sydney, known for his on-air character, "Sammy Sparrow". He was an Australian Commercial Radio Hall of Fame recipient. He dominated Sydney radio from the 1960s to the 1980s.

Early life

O'Callaghan was born in Melbourne in 1933.

Career

O'Callaghan's career in radio started in 1951 when he joined

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 prog ...

as an office boy, aged 17. He did his first on-air work within a few weeks. This began what the ''

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

'' newspaper called "one of the most distinguished careers in the history of Australian broadcasting". Early in his career, in the 1950s, he was notable for his exclusive coverage of the Cold War defection that became known as the

Petrov Affair The Petrov Affair was a Cold War spy incident in Australia, concerning the defection of Vladimir Petrov, a KGB officer, from the Soviet embassy in Canberra in 1954. The defection led to a Royal Commission and the resulting controversy contribu ...

. He joined

2UE 2UE is an all-music radio station in Sydney owned by Nine Entertainment and run under a lease agreement by Ace Radio. It currently broadcasts from its studios in Pyrmont, New South Wales. History 1920s 2EU Electrical Utilities applied to the P ...

in 1956, where he was known for his long running, and ratings winning,

breakfast show Breakfast television (Europe and Australia) or morning show (Canada and the United States) is a type of news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts live in the morning (typically scheduled between 5:00 and 10:00a.m., or if it i ...

. He stayed with 2UE until retirement in 2003, then had a short time at 2KY during

Kerry Packer Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer (17 December 1937 – 26 December 2005) was an Australian media tycoon, and was considered one of Australia's most powerful media proprietors of the twentieth century. The Packer family company owned a controlling ...

's ownership of 2UE. He moved back to the

mid north coast The Mid North Coast is a country region in the north-east of the state of New South Wales, Australia. The region, situated 416km north of Sydney, covers the mid northern coast of the state, beginning from Port Stephens at Hawks Nest to as far ...

of NSW where he continued to work at 2MC.

Awards

O'Callaghan became a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE), was named Father of the Year, and won the Queen's Jubilee Medal. He was an

Australian Commercial Radio Awards The Australian Commercial Radio Awards (ACRAs), previously known as the rAWARDS, are an Australian award ceremony held to recognise outstanding achievements in the radio industry. They were first held in 1989, and recognise excellence in all are ...

Hall of Fame inductee in 2004.

Later life

O'Callaghan and his wife Dorothy lived at

Wauchope, New South Wales Wauchope ( ) is a town in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is within the boundaries of the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council area. Wauchope is inland on the Hastings River and the Oxley Highway west of Port Mac ...

, on the NSW Mid North Coast, near

Port Macquarie Port Macquarie, sometimes shortened to Port Mac and commonly locally nicknamed Port, is a coastal city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane, on the Tasman Sea coast at the mouth of the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OCallaghan, Gary 1933 births 2017 deaths Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire Radio personalities from Melbourne