Roger Climpson

Born (1931-10-18) 18 October 1931
Peterborough, England
NationalityBritish Australian
Occupations
  • Journalist
  • newsreader
  • weather presenter
  • radio and television announcer
  • television host/presenter
  • reporter
Years active1951–1998, 2015 (mainstream TV and radio), Christian radio 1998-2004
Known for

Roger Climpson OAM (born 18 October 1931) is an English-born Australian retired media personality who served a lengthy career in both radio and television, as a journalist and reporter, announcer, newsreader, weather presenter and host.

Climpson is best known for his time as news presenter with both the Nine Network and Seven Network for Seven News in the 1980s and 1990s and for his hosting duties on shows such as the local version of This Is Your Life and true-crime series Australia's Most Wanted.

Early life

Climpson was born on 18 October 1931,[1] in Peterborough, England. The son of a butcher, he aimed to become a pilot in the Royal Air Force, until a rugby union accident at the age of 14 punctured his lung, leading him to take up acting instead of flying. He emigrated to Australia in 1949, and met his future wife Claire at a Christmas party in 1952.[2]

Early radio career

Climpson started his career locally in theatre radio appearing in numerous radio series including Caltex theatre, The General Motors Hour, When a Girl Marries and Life Can Be Beautiful and Portia Faces Life as well as narrator of Tarzan Kingdom of the Apes, he also appeared in numerous plays at the ABC and guest roles in early television serials like Homicide and You Can't Srr Round Corners.[3]

Television and radio career

Climpson began his television career from its inception in 1956, working at Channel Nine as an announcer, weatherman and newsreader. He got the job at Nine after asking his friend Brian Henderson to have a word with the head of the network, Bruce Gyngell. During his time at Nine, he hosted two programs of his own: Rendezvous with Roger and The House and Garden Show.[2]

He left Channel Nine in 1965 after chairman Sir Frank Packer refused to grant him a five-pound pay rise.[4]

Climpson found himself briefly unemployed and worked at his father's butcher shop, until he was asked to fill a temporary newsreader role at Channel Seven – where he stayed for fifteen years.

In 1977 Climpson presented the afternoon shift on Sydneys 2GB

In 1977, he began hosting This Is Your Life until returning to newsreading in 1978. In 1982, Climpson retired from television work, but returned to the station in 1989 as anchor of Sydney's Seven News, until a diagnosis of prostate cancer in November 1994 forced his temporary retirement.[2] Ann Sanders replaced him the following year.

In 1997, he was host of Australia's Most Wanted, which lasted until 1998 when he retired from television. although post-retirement briefly returned to host to a TV documentary in 2015.

post- his main stream media career , Climpson has been heavily involved in Cristian radio broadcasting from 1995 and 2004 and served as chairman of the Cristian Broadcasting Association Ltd. licensee of Sydney Christian radio station Hope 103.2

Honours

On Australia Day 2004 he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM).[5]

Selected credits

Title Year Notes
Rope (TV movie)1957Mr Blackface
Rendezvous with Roger Climpson (TV series)1959Himself
Teenage Mailbag1960Himself as Host
The Year in Review (TV movie documentary)1961Himself as Host
The Splendour and the Peaks (documentary short)1962Himself as Narrator (voice)
The Story of Port Augusta (documentary)1963Himself as Narrator and Commentator
The City of Adelaide (documentary)1965Himself – Commentator (voice)
The Big Killing (TV movie)1965Peter Ashbury
Twelve Night (TV movie)1966Orsino
Homicide (TV series)19672 roles
Edwin Blake
Al Taylor
Sydney Tonight1968–1969Himself as Host
Dangerous Reef (documentary short)1969Himself
Celebrity Tattle Tales1980Himself
This is Your Life (TV series)1975–1980Himself as Host
Australia's Most Wanted (TV series)1998Host
Australia the Story Of Us (TV series documentary)2015Host

Newsreader

Program Title Years Network
Nine News (as news anchor, announcer, weatherman)1957–1965Nine Network
Seven News (stint 1) main news presenter1965–1980Seven Network
Seven Nightly News (stint 2) (5.00pm bulletin)1989–1994Seven Network

References

  1. "Birth Registration".
  2. 1 2 3 Rodgers, Andrew: Roger Climpson: This Is Your Life, 21 November 1996.
  3. "Roger Climpson awarded OAM in Australia Day Honours".
  4. 50 years of television Archived 14 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Sunday (Nine Network), 25 September 2005.
  5. It's an Honour
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