Brian Naylor (broadcaster)

Naylor was born on 21 January 1931. He grew up in Melbourne, initially attending Melbourne High School until the onset of World War II, when he was relocated to Camberwell High School, along with all of the students at his school. Completing his schooling in Form 5 (Year 11), his first job was as a production cadet at the Australian Paper Manufacturers.{{cite news | last=Carman | first=Gerry |date=10 February 2009 |title=Class act on and off camera |work=The Age |url=http://www.theage.com.au/national/class-act-on-and-off-camera-20090209-82e5.html?page=-1 |access-date=10 February 2009 | location=Melbourne}} Naylor left APM when his manager started Woodweev Blinds, a blinds manufacturer, for which Naylor produced the original radio advertisement. It was from there that he was to start his career in the media.

In 1956, when Woodweev Blinds needed someone to provide a voice for their radio commercials, Naylor was "co-opted" into the role – reportedly because his voice made him sound like "a nice family sort of fellow". This led to a two-year stint as the radio presenter of the company's program on radio station 3AK.{{cite news | last=Wilmoth |first=Peter |date=6 April 2001 |title=The new life of Brian |work=The Age | page=16 }} Two years after starting with 3AK, Naylor joined Melbourne radio station 3DB where he worked with Ernie Sigley as a radio announcer and host of a children's talent program, Swallow's Juniors.

In 1958, Naylor moved to Melbourne television station HSV-7, transferring Swallow's Juniors to television where it was renamed Brian and the Juniors. Running until 1969, it provided a stepping stone for performers such as Debra Byrne, Rod Kirkham, Jane Scali, Peter Doyle, Patti Newton, Anne Watt, Vikki Broughton and Jamie Redfern. Naylor also hosted the SSB Adventure Club in the early 1960s with Madeleine Burke,[http://www.televisionau.com/tv270361.htm Classic TV Guides], TV Times, 23 March 1961, The History of Australian Television, televisionau.com Accessed 8 February 2015 and appeared as a regular on the station's daytime variety program Time For Terry in 1965.

He became HSV-7's chief news presenter in 1970, replacing Geoff Raymond. Naylor switched to GTV-9 in 1978 and replaced Sir Eric Pearce as chief news presenter. He presented the Melbourne edition of National Nine News until he retired from this position on 27 November 1998. He was replaced by Peter Hitchener.

In his time at Nine, Naylor also hosted Carols by Candlelight from the Sidney Myer Music Bowl ten times.{{Citation needed|date=February 2009}} He won the 1988 Victorian Father of the Year Award.{{cite web |url=http://fathersdaycouncil.org.au/page9.html |title=Father's Day Council of Australia – Past Winners |access-date=31 May 2008 |publisher=Father's Day Council of Australia |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080718192559/http://www.fathersdaycouncil.org.au/page9.html |archive-date=18 July 2008 }} A patron of several organisations (the Variety Club in Victoria, the Dialysis and Transplant Association of Victoria and the Jack Brockhoff Reconstructive Plastic Surgery Research Unit of Royal Melbourne Hospital), Naylor also assisted with fundraising for the Macfarlane Burnet Appeal and Windana Society Drug Rehabilitation.

Naylor's son Matthew was killed in a plane crash at Kinglake, Victoria, on 29 May 2008, aged 41.{{cite news| title=Newsreader's son in fatal plane crash| date=30 May 2008| publisher=News.com.au| url=http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23785022-2,00.html| access-date=31 May 2008| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080602013822/http://www.news.com.au/story/0%2C23599%2C23785022-2%2C00.html| archive-date=2 June 2008}} Less than a year later, on 7 February 2009, Naylor and his wife Moiree were killed as one of the Black Saturday bushfires destroyed their property in Kinglake West.{{cite news |title=Bushfires in Victoria kill 76, death toll will rise |work=News Limited |publisher=Herald Sun |date=8 February 2009 |url=http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25024407-661,00.html |access-date=8 February 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090208205159/http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0%2C21985%2C25024407-661%2C00.html |archive-date=8 February 2009 }}{{cite news | title = Brian Naylor missing, wife dead in bushfires | work = News Limited | publisher = Geelong Advertiser | date = 8 February 2009 |url=http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2009/02/08/49481_news.html | access-date = 8 February 2009}}{{cite news |title=Channel Nine veteran Brian Naylor confirmed dead |publisher=News.com.au |date=8 February 2009 |url=http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25026037-29277,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211121829/http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25026037-29277,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 February 2009 }}

Naylor was posthumously inducted into the TV Week Logie Awards Hall of Fame at the 2010 Logie Awards.{{Cite news

| title = Naylor enters Logies Hall of Fame

| work = The Spy Report

| publisher = Media Spy

| date = 3 May 2010

| url = http://www.mediaspy.org/report/2010/05/03/naylor-enters-hall-of-fame/

| access-date = 18 May 2010

| url-status = dead

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100522180658/http://www.mediaspy.org/report/2010/05/03/naylor-enters-hall-of-fame/

| archive-date = 22 May 2010

}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{IMDb name |id=0623266|name=Brian Naylor}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070901173016/http://www.chessmoves.com/briannaylor.htm Chessmoves.com – The Media, Brian Naylor]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naylor, Brian}}

Category:1931 births

Category:2009 deaths

Category:Logie Award winners

Category:Natural disaster deaths in Australia

Category:Australian television newsreaders and news presenters

Category:Radio personalities from Melbourne