1. Bert Newton started his career in radio broadcasting, primarily as an announcer, before becoming a star and fixture of Australian television since its inception in 1956, and was considered both an industry pioneer icon and one of the longest-serving television performers in the world.
Bert Newton was born in Fitzroy, an inner suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, to Joseph and Gladys Bert Newton.
Bert Newton was educated at St Joseph's Marist Brothers Roman Catholic college.
Bert Newton's first paid radio appearance was as a schoolboy on Melbourne radio station 3XY on 10 June 1952, doing advertisements dressed as a clown with Doug McKenzie, who later became Zag in Zig and Zag.
Bert Newton began a morning program on 3UZ in 1976.
Bert Newton began his television career in 1957 at Melbourne's HSV-7, hosting The Late Show.
Bert Newton left for GTV-9 in early 1959 to host In Melbourne Today.
From 1959 to 1960, he hosted The Bert Newton Show on GTV-9, a series aimed at teenagers.
From 1960 to 1961, Bert Newton appeared in the national Graham Kennedy's Channel 9 Show.
From 1975 to mid-1992 Bert Newton mainly appeared on the Nine Network.
In 1975 Bert Newton was cast in the role of sidekick and "barrel boy" on The Don Lane Show.
Bert Newton frequently appeared in outlandish costumes, often sending up celebrities.
Bert Newton memorably sent up Demis Roussos, who was sent on set while Bert Newton was doing the impersonation.
Bert Newton remained on the show until it ended in 1983.
Newton briefly hosted his own program, The Bert Newton Show, recorded for the ABC.
In 1976, Bert Newton replaced long-running compere Frank Wilson on Nine's amateur talent program New Faces.
In 1992, Bert Newton hosted another version of New Faces; however, it did not last for long.
In 1981, Bert Newton presented a quiz show, Ford Superquiz, produced by the Reg Grundy organisation for the Nine Network.
Tonight with Bert Newton was a short-lived attempt to bring back the spirit of IMT.
The Bert Newton Show was created for the Seven Network in 1989 as an attempt to woo some of the audience away from The Midday Show with Ray Martin.
In 1992, Bert Newton moved into daytime TV as host of The Morning Show, which was renamed Good Morning Australia on Network Ten.
From 2006 to 2011, Bert Newton hosted 20 to 1 taking over from Bud Tingwell.
In 2007, Bert Newton hosted the retrospective program What a Year with comedian Julia Zemiro, replacing previous hosts Mike Munro and Megan Gale, which took a light-hearted look at significant events from a chosen year in history.
In 2008 Bert Newton appeared as a celebrity contestant on Million Dollar Wheel of Fortune alongside Livinia Nixon and Dawn Fraser.
Bert Newton won the main game, with $3,235 going to his chosen charity, the International Diabetes Institute.
Bert Newton reputedly received a yearly salary of A$800,000 from Nine during this era.
From November 2008, Bert Newton took over the role of The Wizard in the Melbourne production of the musical Wicked, after the sudden death of Rob Guest.
Bert Newton continued to play the role on the national tour, which began in January 2011, opposite Lucy Durack as Glinda, Jemma Rix as Elphaba, David Harris as Fiyero and Maggie Kirkpatrick as Madame Morrible.
In July 2012 Bert Newton joined the Melbourne cast of Annie for a few weeks, taking over the role of President Roosevelt from Alan Jones.
From August 2013 Bert Newton returned to the stage in producer John Frost's production of Grease The Musical, playing disc jockey Vince Fontaine.
Bert Newton played the narrator in the 2015 Australian production of The Rocky Horror Show.
Bert Newton was an institution of the Logie Awards since the awards since 1959.
Bert Newton was nominated for many Logie Awards and won several:.
Bert Newton holds the record for both the most Logies hosted and the most Logies hosted in a continuous run.
Bert Newton was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1979, for his service to the performing arts.
Bert Newton was the first Melbourne-born King of Moomba in 1978.
In 1997, Bert Newton was the subject of a This Is Your Life tribute.
Channel Nine Salutes Bert Newton was broadcast in early 2004, depicting the career of Newton from his earliest days.
Bert Newton was listed as the No 1 Australian TV star of the past 50 years.
On 1 July 2008, Bert Newton was named Victorian of the Year.
Two weeks after his death, on 12 November 2021, Bert Newton was given a Victorian state funeral, conducted at St Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne.
In 1974, Bert Newton married Patti McGrath with whom he worked on television.
Matthew Bert Newton is an actor who has appeared in a number of Australian films and television dramas.
In November 2012, Bert Newton underwent quadruple heart bypass surgery, having been admitted to hospital twice in the twelve months prior.
Bert Newton was admitted to Epworth Hospital several times for pneumonia recovery in March and April 2017.
Bert Newton had a toe infection in late 2020 and, due to complications treating this, one of his legs was amputated below the knee in May 2021.
Bert Newton died in Prahran, Victoria, on 30 October 2021, aged 83.
Bert Newton is interred at the Cedars section of the Springvale Botanical Cemetery, Melbourne.