18 Facts About Shirley Maddock

Shirley Frances Whitley Maddock was a New Zealand producer, television presenter, author and actress.

Shirley Maddock produced and presented a number of award-winning documentaries, including New Zealand's first ever locally produced television documentary series, Islands of the Gulf.

Shirley Maddock grew up in Wellington and attended Samuel Marsden Collegiate School.

Shirley Maddock travelled to London in 1947 and spent three years in British repertory theatre.

Shirley Maddock had a bit-part in the film The Lavender Hill Mob.

In 1952 Shirley Maddock returned to New Zealand and joined the New Zealand Broadcasting Service and worked on women's radio programmes as a scriptwriter, announcer and researcher.

Shirley Maddock worked briefly at the Alexander Turnbull Library and developed an interest in New Zealand's colonial history.

Shirley Maddock used contemporary photographs, narration, sound effects and music to bring the story to life.

Around this time, Shirley Maddock wrote a novel called With Gently Smiling Jaws.

Shirley Maddock is best-known for producing and presenting New Zealand's first ever locally produced television documentary series, Islands of the Gulf, in 1964.

The documentary involved Shirley Maddock exploring the Hauraki Gulf at a time when the islands of the Gulf were isolated from the outside world.

Shirley Maddock was not initially permitted by the NZBC to use the title "producer".

Shirley Maddock went on to produce other documentary series such as A Far Cry, about the National Women's Hospital, and The Tall Trees and the Gold, about the history of logging and gold mining in New Zealand.

In 1971, Shirley Maddock wrote a play called Prospect from the Park, to mark Auckland's 150th anniversary.

In 1983 Shirley Maddock presented a fifty-minute documentary revisiting Islands of the Gulf and commenting on the changes that had taken place since the 1964 programme.

Shirley Maddock continued to make other appearances on television and radio throughout the 1970s and 1980s, including guest appearances on television shows such as Hudson and Halls, Master of Arts and Beauty and the Beast.

In 1965, Shirley Maddock married Michael Easther.

Shirley Maddock's son Richard is the head of the Department of Physics at the University of Auckland, her daughter Elisabeth played the role of Carla Crozier on television show Shortland Street from 1995 to 1996, and her son Philip is a Waikato organic farmer.