JK Rowling and Stephen King are among the authors and notable faces voicing their disbelief after Sir Salman Rushdie was stabbed on stage in New York state.
The Indian-born British author, 75, whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was to deliver a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution when the incident occurred, leaving him with an apparent stab wound to the neck.
As he was transported to hospital by helicopter, with his condition unclear, a number of authors took to social media to speak of their shock following the “horrific” incident.
Harry Potter author Rowling, said on Twitter: “Horrifying news.
“Feeling very sick right now. Let him be ok.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted: “Appalled that Sir Salman Rushdie has been stabbed while exercising a right we should never cease to defend.
“Right now my thoughts are with his loved ones. We are all hoping he is okay.”
Renowned American author of horror and fantasy novels King added: “I hope Salman Rushdie is okay.”
Nick Barley, director of Edinburgh International Book Festival, said: “As we open this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival, we send love and best wishes to Salman Rushdie.
“Salman visited us last in 2019 and joined us online last year. We are inspired by his courage and are thinking of him at this difficult time.
“This tragedy is a painful reminder of the fragility of things we hold dear and a call to action: we won’t be intimidated by those who would use violence rather than words.
“As a gesture of support and solidarity we are inviting all authors appearing in the adult program to read a sentence from one of Salman’s books at the beginning of their book festival event.”
Journalist and author of Empireland, Sathnam Sanghera, tweeted: “Passage from Midnight’s Children in my last ever exam. Poster of The Moor’s Last Sigh had placed on my (pretentious) student bedroom wall. Quote from Satanic Verses opens Empireland.
“Lots of British Asian writers wouldn’t be writers without him. Pray he’s well.”
TV chef Nigella Lawson wrote: “This is horrific. Am distracted. Please, please let him be ok.”
A number of political figures also shared their shock, as photos emerged from the Associated Press news agency showing Sir Salman lying on his back with a first responder crouched over him.
Sir Salman’s book The Satanic Verses has been banned in Iran since 1988, as many Muslims view it as blasphemous, and its publication prompted Iran’s then-leader Ayatollah Khomeini to issue a fatwa calling for his execution.
Conservative leadership hopeful Rishi Sunak said on Twitter: “Shocked to hear of the attack on Salman Rushdie in New York.
“A champion of free speech and artistic freedom. He’s in our thoughts tonight.”
Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “Freedom of expression is a value we hold dear and attempts to undermine it must not be tolerated.”
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps tweeted: “Shocked to hear that @SalmanRushdie has been stabbed in New York. Freedom of speech is fundamental to all strong democracies. Thoughts with him and his family from him.”
Deputy Labor leader Angela Rayner wrote: “The horrific attack on Salman Rushdie in New York is appalling beyond words. I wish him well at this terrible time.
“This violence is an attack on free speech and can never be the answer. His assailant must be brought swiftly to justice.”
While Shadow foreign secretary, Labour’s David Lammy, said: “This is just horrific. Salman Rushdie is a lion of a man and a hugely talented author.
“Praying he makes a full recovery and his cowardly attacker is brought to justice.”
Do you wear fragrance? I wear my husband’s Comme des Garçons 2 Man.
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Any go-to jewellery? I wear a lot of gold chains from my mum and grandma as well as my christening medal, an old Cartier chain and my kid’s handmade jewellery.
Can you remember a favorite outfit from when you were a child? I grew up in France and wore dresses, white socks and Mary Janes like a proper French kid. There was a cherry-print Jacadi dress with a white scalloped collar that I loved because it twirled. I still love garments that move and drape like that.
And your worst fashion mistake? My Gwen Stefani period in the ’90s. I’d wear a mini kilt with belly chain, crop top and over-the-knee socks, like a naughty punk girl. I had a belly piercing and a bit too much make-up. It was sexy, offensive and the opposite of my aesthetic today.
What was your first fashion moment? When I was 17 years old, I was street-cast in Paris and I walked for Martin Margiela for fashion week. It was a whole new world; I came from a family of doctors and engineers, and modeling opened up a future in fashion for me.
French singer Françoise Hardy has a classic, timeless style that’s an inspiration to Ariane.Credit:Getty Images
What’s on your wish list? An Alighieri chunky gold choker.
Is there anything you would never wear? I’d say Crocs but I said that about Birkenstocks and Ugg boots and now I wear them all the time. There’s more chance I’ll never wear stilettos again. I’ve done the New York fashion thing – 10 years of running around in high heels – and my feet are done.
Is there a current trend you like? I don’t follow trends because they’re unsustainable. I buy mindfully; I know my style and my body and what’s missing from my wardrobe.
What shoes do you wear most often? A. Emery or Lucy Folk sandals and Adidas “Stan Smith” sneakers.
Who is your favorite fashion icon? I have so many: Françoise Hardy, Jane Birkin, Lou Doillon, Talitha Getty, Lauren Hutton, Charlotte Rampling. Also all those rock guys with the tight pants and big hair like Jimi Hendrix, Robert Plant and Frank Zappa.
What’s your favorite off-duty, casual Sunday look? I love a matching set – our “Cronos” shirt and shorts, for example. But I live by Bronte Beach in Sydney, so I often spend the weekend in my swimsuit with a kaftan over it.
Ilio Nema was founded by Ariane Leondaridis and Katia Kelso.
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Olivia Newton-John revealed in her autobiography the devastating details of her first cancer diagnosis and why she kept it from her daughter Chloe Lattanzi.
The beloved Aussie icon, who died on Monday aged 73, penned a memoir in 2017 and opened up about her battle with cancer which started in 1992.
In it, she said she’d found a lump during a self-examination of her breasts and pushed her doctor to run several tests which came back negative – until the final one.
Olivia Newton-John (pictured) revealed in her autobiography the devastating details of her first cancer diagnosis and why she kept it from her daughter Chloe Lattanzi
On July 3, 1992, Olivia’s husband at the time, Matt Lattanzi, now 63, was contacted by her doctor as the pair changed flights in Seattle.
Dr. Phillips said he wished to see Olivia in person, alluding to the bad news, but Matt kept the possible diagnosis a secret from her as it was already a day of heartache.
Olivia’s father, Brinley, had been very ill with liver cancer when he died on July 3.
The beloved Aussie icon, who died on Monday aged 73, penned a memoir in 2017 and opened up about her battle with cancer which started in 1992. Olivia is pictured performing in 1992
She had visited him on his sickbed only days before but had to leave for Los Angeles to attend rehearsals for her world tour.
‘I told him I’d be back soon but all night long on that plane ride home I cried and cried,’ Olivia wrote in her book. ‘In my heart, I knew I would never see my father again — and I was right.’
She went on to reveal in her memoir, Don’t Stop Believing, the moment her daughter Chloe Lattanzi, 36, found out her mother had breast cancer at the age of six.
On July 3, 1992, Olivia’s husband at the time, Matt Lattanzi, 63, was contacted by her doctor as the pair changed flights in Seattle. . Phillips said he wished to see Olivia in person, alluding to the bad news of her, but Matt kept the possible diagnosis a secret as it was already a hard day for her
The young girl had ‘lost her best friend Colette to cancer’, so Olivia chose to keep the diagnosis a secret from her at first, despite having announced it publicly.
Unfortunately, on Chloe’s first day back at school in Australia, she found out the devastating news from her peers.
Olivia wrote: ‘When I picked Chloe up after her very first day, she was crying.
‘”Mummy, Mummy! One of my friends said you have cancer. Is it true?” I held her, told her it was true, but that now I was better and the cancer was gone.’
She went on to reveal the moment her daughter Chloe Newton-John, 36, (right) found out her mother had breast cancer at age six from her friends at school. The young girl had ‘lost her de ella Colette’s best friend to cancer’, so Olivia chose to keep the diagnosis a secret from her at first
The Grease star went on to say her little girl had been crushed by the omission, telling her mother, ‘I would have taken care of you.’
She believed it was the start of the ‘trust issues’ Chloe struggled with later in life.
Olivia died peacefully in her home in Southern California on Monday morning, surrounded by family and friends.
It came after a brave and extraordinarily public decades-long battle with cancer in which she was diagnosed three times in 1992, 2013 and, for a final time, in 2017.
Olivia died peacefully in her home in Southern California on Monday morning, surrounded by family and friends. (Pictured with her husband John Easterling in a throwback photo she posted on Friday just three days before she passed away)
Martha Stewart has responded to viral memes suggesting a budding relationship between her and Kim Kardashian’s ex, Pete Davidson.
Despite being snapped holding hands with the former Saturday night Live star at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in April, the 81-year-old said she’s not about to become Davidson’s next love interest, reports the new york post.
“Pete Davidson is like the son I never had!” the famous domestic diva told the Daily Mail with a laugh at the opening of her first-ever restaurant at the Paris in Las Vegas on Friday.
However, even though a hot new relationship isn’t on the horizon, she said she enjoyed meeting the 28-year-old performer.
“He is a charming boy who is finding his way,” she said.
It might not be the last time eager fans get the chance to hear the pair together — with Stewart dropping an offer she extended to Davidson.
“I’ve invited him to come on my podcast and I look forward to hearing what he has to say,” she revealed.
Davidson split from Kardashian, his girlfriend of nine months, in early August, citing reasons including his filming schedule and Kardashian being busy raising her children and running her business.
“They have a lot of love and respect for each other, but found that the long distance and their demanding schedules made it really difficult to maintain a relationship,” a source told Page Six.
Stewart — who was married to publisher Andrew Stewart for 29 years before they called it quits in 1987 — is regularly the talk of social media with her thirst trap snaps.
The former model especially caught fans’ attention after posting a sultry selfie from her pool in 2020 — with users even suggesting she start an OnlyFans account.
However, for the time being, Stewart appears to be single, jokingly telling Chelsea Handler on her podcast recently that it’s been “a while” since she dated.
This article originally appeared in the New York Post and was reproduced with permission.
A banned Teletubbies sketch—titled The Lion and The Bear—has been revealed after decades.
An uncensored version of the sketch, which is from 1997, has been released on YouTube, reports The Sun.
teletubbies was a beloved British children’s television program about four colorful characters — Tinky Winky, Laa-Laa, Dipsy and Po — who roamed around a grassy floral landscape whenever they weren’t hanging out in their earth house, the Tubbytronic Superdome.
The original series ran from 1997 to 2001.
Anyone who watched the show might remember that it was funny, colourful, and educational, but typically not scary.
However, one teletubbies sketch which was broadcast in 1997 was actually so terrifying that it was banned in countries around the world.
“The Lion and The Bear” was a sketch about two cardboard cutout characters who were, unsurprisingly, a lion and a bear.
The Bear arrived first, followed by the lion, who was chasing her.
In the original sketch, the Teletubbies were terrified by the arrival of the Bear who creepily repeated the same sentence several times.
“I’m the Bear, I’m the Bear, and I’m coming!” she repeated.
After she appeared on screen, she continued rhyming in her terrifying voice.
“I’m the Bear, I’m the Bear, with brown fuzzy hair. I’m hiding from the Lion but he doesn’t know where,” she said.
Then the “scary” Lion arrived.
“I am the scary Lion, with big scary teeth. I’m scary on the top and I’m underneath,” he growled.
This dialogue was followed by a dramatic chase scene across the green hills while Laa-Laa told his fellow Teletubbies to hide.
These scenes proved to be too traumatizing for young viewers and were called out by parents for not being “age appropriate.”
One review from 1997 even dubbed the scene as “the greatest horror film of all time.”
Four years later, the BBC edited the sketch to make it more child-friendly.
In the censored sketch, many of the original elements had been changed.
Now the Teletubbies appeared excited about the arrival of the Bear. The Bear’s voice had also been edited to sound less scary and the threatening music was swapped out for something more upbeat.
Instead of being scared by the Bear, the Teletubbies now giggle at her presence.
They continue to laugh all the way through and celebrate when the Lion chases the Bear far away, instead of running away themselves.
This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission.
If you google Markella Kavenagh’s date of birth, many of the results will tell you she was born in 1990. Given her long list of acting credits, this seems to add up. But when the fresh-faced actor sits down for an interview with sunday life, it’s clear she’s much younger than the 32 years various websites claim her to be. “I’m only 21,” she says, laughing. “I was born in 2000.”
This correction makes the work Markella has squeezed into a few short years even more impressive – and shows why you shouldn’t trust everything you read online.
A self-confessed “theatre kid”, Markella was in high school at Melbourne’s Wesley College when she landed her first role, in Foxtel’s 2018 series Picnic at Hanging Rock. This was quickly followed that year by a gig on Stan’s break-stomper (“I rocked up to school with a shaved undercut,” she recalls), and the BBC’s acclaimed drama The cry. Next was the 2019 film The True History of the Kelly Gangdirected by Justin Kurzel, then another Stan series, The Gloamingin 2020.
Markella was still a teenager, barely out of school and working at fashion retailer Sportsgirl, when she got the call that would change her life.
“I remember being in the back room and I was locking up for the night,” she says. “Then I got this call from my agent about an audition. It was so surreal. I just thought, ‘Well, you know what, I will do the audition and that’s where it probably will end. And I’m so grateful to be able to do it and be in the room.’ But then I got a call a couple of weeks later…”
Markella wears Michelle Mason dress from The Outnet. Paco Rabanne jewelery from Parlor X.Credit:Hugh Stewart
That call was to tell her she’d been cast as Elanor “Nori” Brandyfoot in the massively-hyped Amazon Prime Video series, Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. It’s due to air next month and Markella is flat-out on the publicity trail in the lead-up to the launch, including today’s photo shoot and interview with sunday life.
Ever since Amazon bought the television rights to The Lord of the Rings for $US250 million in November 2017, die-hard fantasy fans have been picking over any tiny morsel of information they can get their hands on about the series. So it’s not surprising then that online forums went into a frenzy when Markella was the first casting to be announced, accompanied by an image of her character from her.
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As Nori, Markella has curly ash-brown hair and elfin ears. Her cheeks are round and rosy, and her expression is wide-eyed and innocent. It’s a far cry from the look she is adopting for today’s shoot and interview: a vampy goddess in a sequined dress, her lips cherry red and her long hair jet black. “It was initially for testing hair colors for a role,” she says of her raven mane de ella, “and I just really liked it.”
Markella plays the hobbit Elanor Brandyfoot in The Lord of the Rings: The Power of the Ring. Credit:Prime Video
The series is based on the world created by JRR Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings and its appendices. Set in the Second Age of Middle-earth, thousands of years before The Hobbit and The Lord of the Ringsit follows a cast of both familiar and new characters as they confront the threat of evil returning to Middle-earth.
Those familiar with Tolkien’s work will be able to identify the character of Nori as one of the “new” variety. “She’s not specifically a canon character,” explains Markella. “But obviously, there are Harfoots in the Legendarium.”
Harfoot’s? Legendarium? those not familiar with Tolkien’s work might be scratching their heads. First up, the Legendarium is the body of writing that forms the background to The Lord of the Rings.
When it comes to explaining Harfoots, Markella does that best. “Harfoots are kind of the ancestors to Hobbits – they look quite similar,” she says. “They’ve both got the feet, they’ve both got the ears. But the main difference is their circumstance.
“So the Hobbits that we’ve seen in the books and later in the Fellowship, they have the Shire, they have their home. Whereas the Harfoots are very much still in the process of finding that sense of solid, secure place.”
Markella wears Zara dress. Jimmy Choo heels.Credit:Hugh Stewart
What else can Markella tell fact-hungry fans about Nori specifically? “Nori is a very resolute, very inquisitive Harfoot. She kind of pushes the boundaries and she just really wants to subvert tradition and the expectations of what being a Harfoot looks like. She kind of leads with the idea that a fear of risk can be greater than the risk itself, so why not just go out there and take it and see what you can do.”
“”I never thought that I would find myself in fantasy,” she confesses. “I fell in love with film through minimalist, neorealist movies like Bicycle Thieves and Shoplifters.”
The way Markella speaks about her character and the Tolkien world, she comes across as a dedicated fantasy fan. But it turns out she hasn’t always been au fait with Harfoots and Hobbits.
“I never thought that I would find myself in fantasy,” she confesses. “I fell in love with film through minimalist, neorealist movies like Bicycle Thieves and Shoplifters. Those are the films that I love, because they’re focusing on the space between people in relationships, and in our real life. There are no fancy cuts and visuals.
“I knew and I appreciated that there was a place for fantasy through comfort and escapism. But it’s been so liberating to see that you can take those same themes, and that same truth and the same approach, and focus on truthful stories and portraying specific storylines and character arcs, just in a fantastical context.”
Given the feverish fascination with Tolkien’s work, is Markella ready for the fame that will become her reality when the series goes to air? “I’m just kind of staying open and seeing what happens,” she says, either completely unfazed or possibly unaware of what lies ahead.
Markella wears Rachel Gilbert dress.Credit:Hugh Stewart
A quick look at Markella’s Instagram profile shows she has a modest 12,000 followers. No doubt that she will explode with her growing celebrity. “I have so many thoughts about social media,” she says. “For me, social media is something that I’m continuously navigating. If I wake up in the morning and the first app I check is my Instagram and I see something that was posted five hours ago, I’m already starting my day in the past. When I personally can struggle with being completely present, I want to focus on investing as much as I can in my interests and in issues I care about.
“So it’s making sure that I’m investing in my real life and in the people who I love. Because otherwise, I feel like you can get stuck. You can get stuck scrolling, stuck comparing.
It can be a bit of a vicious cycle and I don’t want to contribute to an echo chamber. I really want to make sure I’m taking the time to reflect on how I would like my online presence to be.”
For many breakthrough actors, a move to Hollywood is the obvious next step. But Markella is not so sure. “There’s a quote by Aldous Huxley that says, ‘There are quicksands all about you, sucking at your feet, trying to suck you down into fear and self-pity and despair. That’s why you must walk so lightly. Lightly my darling.’
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“I think that’s easier said than done sometimes. But I really try to hold on to that. To not let any outside noise or expectations affect what I decide to do and the choices I make. I’ve thought about moving to LA but I just want to see what I gravitate towards naturally.”
With her level-headedness about fame and social media, her love of neorealist films and the ability to casually slip a Huxley quote into a conversation, Markella displays a degree of maturity far beyond her years. Perhaps the birth date on Google is correct after all?
“My friends are always making fun of me because sometimes I’ll listen to a song and I’ll just be like, ‘You know what, I feel nostalgic for the ’90s,’ “, she says, laughing. “But I wasn’t even born then!”
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power premieres on Prime Video on September 2.
Styling by Penny McCarthy and Emerson Conrad; Hair by Daren Borthwick using Oribe; Make-up by Linda Jefferyes using Liqlips by Linda Jefferyes. Shot on location at the Bob Hawke Beer & Leisure Centre.
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Yot’s a persistent area of movie myopia – the idea that science or maths or, in this case, engineering is, on its own, not sexy enough to carry a film. Thus portraits of some of the great minds of the 19th century – Mary Anning in ammonite, and now engineer Gustave Eiffel – are retrofitted with a doomed romance. The way this conventionally handsome period picture tells it, a chance encounter between Eiffel (a tousled Romain Duris) and him’s long-lost love of his life, Adrienne (Emma Mackey), inspired the tower itself. Adrienne’s challenge to “be audacious” is the catalyst that prompts Eiffel to abandon his pitch for an egalitarian but unglamorous Métro system as his contribution to the 1889 world’s fair, and to dream big instead. Her initial – A – crafted from 7,300 tonnes of wrought iron, is permanently stamped on the Paris cityscape.
Eiffel is not unentertaining – it would spend the time pleasantly enough on a long-haul flight. Together, Duris and Mackey have a corset-twanging chemistry. But the foregrounding of a fictional romance over a feat of engineering does feel like a missed opportunity. The demure score is a case in point – it’s all decorative ribbons and lace where it could have taken rivets and girders as its inspiration and perhaps met the requirement to be audacious.
Salman Rushdie remained hospitalized in serious condition Saturday after being stabbed at a literary event in New York state in a shocking assault that triggered widespread international outrage, but drew applause from hardliners in Iran and Pakistan.
The British author, who spent years under police protection after Iranian leaders ordered his killing, underwent emergency surgery and was placed on a ventilator in a Pennsylvania hospital following Friday’s assault. His agent said he will likely lose an eye.
“Salman Rushdie — with his insight into humanity, with his unmatched sense for story, with his refusal to be intimidated or silenced — stands for essential, universal ideals. Truth. Courage. Resilience,” Biden said in a statement.
On Friday, a 24-year-old man from New Jersey, Hadi Matar, rushed the stage where Rushdie was about to deliver a lecture and stabbed him in the neck and abdomen.
Beyond Rushdie’s eye injury, the nerves in one of his arms were severed and his liver was damaged, according to his agent Andrew Wylie.
The fatwa followed publication of the novel “The Satanic Verses,” which sparked fury among some Muslims who believed it was blasphemous.
“For whatever it was, eight or nine years, it was quite serious,” he told a Stern correspondent in New York.
– Assailant raised in US –
Security was not particularly tight at Friday’s event at the Chautauqua Institution, which hosts arts programs in a tranquil lakeside community near Buffalo.
Matar’s family apparently came from a border village called Yaroun in southern Lebanon.
Matar was “born and raised in the US,” the head of the local municipality, Ali Qassem Tahfa, told AFP.
“I was very happy to hear the news,” said Mehrab Bigdeli, a man in his 50s studying to become a Muslim cleric.
In Pakistan, a spokesman for the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan –- a party that has staged violent protests against what it deems to be anti-Muslim blasphemy — said Rushdie “deserved to be killed.”
British leader Boris Johnson said he was “appalled,” while Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the attack “reprehensible” and “cowardly.”
– Write memoir in hiding –
But his 1988 book “The Satanic Verses” transformed his life. The resulting fatwa forced him into nearly a decade in hiding, moving houses repeatedly and being unable to tell even his children of him where he lived.
Since moving to New York, Rushdie has been an outspoken advocate of freedom of speech and has continued writing — including a memoir, “Joseph Anton,” named after his alias while in hiding.
Aussie triple-threat Johnny Ruffo and his partner Tahnee Sims have been through a lot.
Along with all the usual trials and tribulations that come with a relationship, Sims has also supported Ruffo through not one, but two, brain cancer diagnoses.
In fact, Ruffo has credited his relationship with Sims as his saving grace.
“Without her, I may not be here,” Ruffo said in an interview with now to love.
Johnny Ruffo and girlfriend Tahnee Sims (Instagram)
READMORE:Olivia Newton-John met the ‘love of her life’ at 59
“She was the one who made me get in the car [to go to hospital] when it [the headaches] first happened. And she’s encouraging me to do things. She keeps me active, getting me to go for runs and swims.
“We’ve been through so much together now. The longer we stay together, the stronger the bond.”
the Dancing with the Stars winner met his now-partner at a dance studio in 2015 and the two have been dating ever since.
Ruffo was diagnosed with brain cancer after undergoing surgery for a tumor in 2017. Though he announced he was in remission in 2019, in a 2020 interview, he revealed his cancer had returned.
READMORE:Denzel Washington proposed three times before she said yes
But through it all, Sims has remained by his side.
“She’s been there with me from day one,” said Ruffo in a 2021 interview on Fitz & Wippa“She’s unbelievable.”
In a recent Instagram post, Sims commemorated five years since her partner’s first brain cancer diagnosis.
“Five years on. In awe of you every single day,” she wrote. “Still a huge battle ahead but a major milestone reached that was at times uncertain. Grateful for you always.”
Ruffo replied, “Five years to the day and I’m still so grateful for every day I get to spend with you.”
READMORE:How Tina Turner’s husband Erwin Bach saved her life
When asked about the secret to the strength of their relationship regardless of adversity, Ruffo told now to love it was all about laughter.
“We just have fun. We make each other laugh so much, You know that gut-wrenching laugh with tears coming from your eyes?” said the Home and Away star.
“We argue and fight just like every other couple, but we make up too.”
When asked about Sims in a 2019 interview with TheDailyMail Ruffo said, “She’s been incredible. I can’t fault her.”
The most captivating love stories in popular culture
I stuck it up my jumper, kept playing it on the station and it was beginning of a whole new life for me. I found that in no time at all I got the station 60 sponsors! From there we went to Brisbane and I walked into the station 4BH and said to the manager, “I’m a disc jockey,” and he thought I rode horses! The term wasn’t well-known then. In some ways I was Australia’s first disc jockey, and the rest is history.
Fitz: And one of the most interesting parts of that history is by the mid-1960s when you’re at Sydney’s own 2SM, they send you to London for three months to tour with The Beatles as they make their way to Australia!
Rogers with the Beatles who he went on tour with in Australia in 1964.Credit:Archive
BR: Yes, the deal was I would tour with them, and I would have exclusive rights to interview them every two days.
Fitz: How extraordinary.
BR: We got to Darwin at two o’clock in the morning, in June 1964, and 200 people came to greet them. But truly, The first sign of just how big Beatlemania was came in South Australia, when more than half of Adelaide turned out.
Portrait of Bob Rogers at his broadcast desk at radio station 2CH in Pyrmont, 2010.Credit:Fairfax
Fitz: And there’s Bob Rogers, in the middle of it. When you were with John Lennon, did you feel like, “I’m in the presence of genius?”
BR: No, I didn’t feel that. But he didn’t act like that.
Fitz: And the moment with Lennon that always comes to you first, when you think of him?
BRIn Melbourne, I got a phone call from John and he said “I’m in room 711. Come around and have a drink.” It was seven o’clock in the morning. John was sitting in bed with a bottle of red wine and we drank it a bottle of red wine together.
Fitz: And what did you talk about?
BR: I forget. But there are a lot of stories of the Beatles I can’t tell.
Fitz. Yes you can! It’s sixty years ago!
BR: In those early days in Melbourne I kept getting sick of all the women trying to get to them. They’d ring me up and say, “Would you tell the boys we’re in room 612?” or whatever. And I rang the management of the hotel, and said “Would you please stop sending girls up to my suite! I can’t get them to the Beatles!” And I can remember 40 years ago playing tennis down at White City, taking a call at four o’clock in the afternoon saying that John Lennon had been shot dead. It was just disastrous.
Fitz: Speaking of tragic deaths, this week we lost Olivia Newton-John. You had a key part in her discovery of her…
BR: In 1965, Channel Seven had a new show on television called Sing-sing-sing, hosted by Johnny O’Keefe. He’d had a few failures along the way – he went to America wanted to be Elvis Presley and failed – but he came back and started this show. He had a number of girls competing for prizes. And this night I was a judge and I noticed this one girl, Olivia Newton-John, and I picked her to win. I was always very proud of the fact that she became such a success. I am saddened by her death of her, just as I was saddened by the death of her. . . what’s the name of the girl in Melbourne who died this week..?”
Fitz: Judith Durham..?
BR: Judith Durham. Yeah, see, I’m nearly ninety-f—ing-six and I am forgetting a few things.
Fitz: How’s your health these days?
BR: Not good. But, if you don’t mind me saying, at least I’ve got all my hair. . .
Fitz: But you’re still here, still going strong! Is it amazing to you that so many of the people you knew and loved are no longer here and you still are…?
BR: And it is. Somebody the other day called me, asking for a phone number. of the former rugby league boss, Ken Arthurson. I went to my address book and going through, I would say that eighty percent of the people in there have died. So I guess I’m looking forward to my 96th birthday. But I do get a bit bored at times because I don’t get around much any more.
Fitz: One of your contemporaries who is still going strong is John Laws, and he’s still on air.
BR: We met in the late ’50s at 2UE. Fairfax had just sold it because they thought radio was about to be taken over by this new thing, television. But the head of the Lamb family had been to America, and realized that not only was radio surviving, it was thriving, playing popular music for young people, and so they had bought 2UE. The other fellow there had a beautiful voice, and that was John Laws. Now, since the days of Ghost Riders in the Sky, I had realized the value of having records no one else had., and I had organized for mine to be sent to me from America. So I could play songs like the Purple People Eater six months before anyone else could play it. I came in one Monday morning and was told that John had been playing all my important records on Saturday night.
Fitz: Did you have a falling out with him? Did you say, “How dare you?”
BR: Oh yeah. Fifty years later, Derryn Hinch was interviewing me at a restaurant at the Finger Wharf, while we had lunch, and John Laws came up, leaned over and said, “You two are the most despicable ^#&!” I have repeated it three times, before leaving. I said to Derryn, “Isn’t it good you got that on tape!” He said, “No, I turned it off.”
But 2UE has been my favorite station. Forty years ago, I used to follow Gary O’Callaghan doing breakfast. And I’d come on at nine o’clock and inherit his wonderful audience from him. That went well over several stints until one day many years later, I was doing afternoons and I said to my panel operator, ‘You’re a f—ing idiot’ and that was the end of my career at 2UE.
Fitz: Your most famous employer though, was probably John Singleton, at 2CH?
BR: Yes, I was at 2GB, doing mornings, and they wanted me to do afternoons and I didn’t want to. So I arranged with John Singleton to go to 2CH, and I stayed there for 20 years until he sold it.
Fitz: Your final day must have been tough?
BR: And it is. I was astounded by the reaction I got after I retired in October 2020, with letters from all over the world. Even in North America I had several listeners begging me to stay. They ask me to come back on occasionally, but I am too old.
Fitz: Bob, you sound so strong, I reckon you’ll cruise through 100 and knock over 105. But when the time comes, what do you want us to say of the life and times of Bob Rogers?
BR: Life was very good. Particularly after I got that record in 1949, called (Ghost) Riders in the Sky; then 73 years marriage, and the love of my life is still with me. I don’t think I’m the love of her life de ella any more … (A cheery protesting cry is heard in the room.) 73 years is pretty good in this business.
Matter of fact, One of the first songs I used to love in Hobart was called, The Folks Who Live on the Hill.
It goes:
“Someday we’ll build a home on a hilltop high, You and I,
Shiny and new a cottage that two can fill,
And we’ll be pleased to be called
‘The folks who live on the hill’.”
And now we live on the best hill in town, one of the best in the world, looking down on Balmoral Beach. It’s been a great life.
joke of the week
I had a dream the other night. I was in the old West riding in a stagecoach. Suddenly, a man riding a horse pulls up to the left side of the stagecoach, and a riderless horse pulls up on the right. The man leans down, pulls open the door, and jumps off his horse into the stagecoach. Then he opens the door on the other side and jumps onto the other horse. Just before he rode off, I yelled out, “What was all that about?” He replied, “Nothing. It’s just a stage I’m going through.”
Quote of the week
“There is suddenly a very real risk of violent political instability in this country for the first time in more than 150 years.” – Joel B. Pollak, a senior editor of the right-wing outlet Breitbart News, after Donald Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago was raided by the FBI, and Trump supporters rose in outrage.
What they said
“My beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents. They even broke into my safe!” – Donald Trump complaining about being treated like a criminal.
“Treaty will provide that mechanism for us to negotiate equal terms on how we can live together in the same country and celebrate us as well. We’ve made it clear that the Greens want to see progress on all elements of the Statement [from the Heart]. We support legislation that improves the lives of First Nations people, and I look forward to talking with Minister Burney about how we achieve that together in this Parliament.” Senate deputy Greens leader Lidia Thorpe saying the Greens will pursue a treaty with Indigenous Australians and a truth-telling commission in exchange for backing the Voice to parliament in negotiations with the Albanese government as it seeks to build cross-party support for the constitutional change.
“It’s bittersweet. I wanted the win but starting with a medal that’s what we wanted. There was a lot of pressure, a lot of anticipation. I think we lived up to it and that’s the first medal down. . . if we had maybe another 20 meters I could have won, but we’re only running 800 meters, not 820.” – Peter Bol after taking silver in the 800m at the Commonwealth Games.
Peter Bol (left) won silver in the 800m.Credit:Getty Images
“Whatever the words, whatever the melody, whatever the tune, there is that sense of hope and joy and love that really blasts through. And that’s very much who she was.” – Xanadu director Robert Greenwald remembering Olivia Newton-John.
“If I had my time again, I would have asked him not to. If everyone knew what they knew now about the process, I mean, the whole situation has been incredibly disappointing for everyone who has been involved.” – Dominic Perrottet about John Barilaro and the whole damn mess.
“What you’re suggesting here is that I knew I was going to retire, therefore I was creating this job [trade commissioner in New York] for myself. I know where you’re going with this and it is absolute rubbish which I refute.” – John Barilaro before the parliamentary inquiry.
loading
“Classrooms have effectively become phone-free and this has allowed staff to focus on educating students. Finally, in eight weeks of the policy, there has been a 90 per cent reduction in behavioral issues related to phones in the school.” – Davidson High School principal David Rule, saying there had been significant changes since students in years 7 to 10 were banned from using mobile phones at school. The high school in Frenchs Forest requires students to put phones in a pouch that, once closed, cannot be reopened without breaking a lock.
