Kevin John Crease (8 May 1936 – 12 April 2007) was a

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for people who garner ...

and

news presenter A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

. He was most noted for presenting

n edition of the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

's''

National Nine News ''Nine News'' (stylised ''9News'') is the national news service of the Nine Network in Australia. Its flagship program is the hour-long 6:00 pm state bulletin, produced by Nine's owned-and-operated stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, ...

'' with Rob Kelvin between 1987 and 2007.

Early life

Born in

North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. History Surveyor-General Colonel William Light of the colo ...

and raised in the working class seaside suburb of

Semaphore Semaphore (; ) is the use of an apparatus to create a visual signal transmitted over distance. A semaphore can be performed with devices including: fire, lights, flags, sunlight, and moving arms. Semaphores can be used for telegraphy when arra ...

, Crease was the eldest of four children. He was a prodigious public speaker from a young age and won the Year 7 senior school debating championship. He started his working life as a clerical worker in 1952 with

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

before becoming a copy boy and later cadet at Adelaide's '' The News'' newspaper, where he quickly "fell foul of the chief-of-staff" and was sacked. Crease completed his

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

, but resigned from the army following an incident where he used an armored car to attend a party with his girlfriend.

Professional career

Crease started his radio career at radio station 5DN in 1957 after being noticed as a spruiker selling plastic raincoats in Adelaide's city streets. On 17 July 1959, Channel 9 began its first broadcast in Adelaide. Crease was chosen to compere the station's first program – ''Clarkson's TV Hostess Quest''. During the 1960s, he worked on a variety of different projects, from reading commercials and news, to performing on '' Adelaide Tonight'' as compere from 1962 to 1975. In the early 1970s, he hosted the news program ''News Beat''. From 1975 to 1977, Crease was then

Premier of South Australia The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier is ...

Don Dunstan Donald Allan Dunstan (21 September 1926 – 6 February 1999) was an Australian politician who served as the 35th premier of South Australia from 1967 to 1968, and again from 1970 to 1979. He was a member of the House of Assembly (MHA) for th ...

's press secretary before returning to television. He went on to present news for

ADS-7 ADS is an Australian television station based in Adelaide, South Australia. It is owned and operated by Paramount Networks UK & Australia through their Australian holdings Network 10. History ADS-10 began as ''ADS-7'' on 24 October 1959. In t ...

. 1983 saw the release of his children's book ''Sam and the Dreamtime'', which was set in his home city of Adelaide and included illustrations by John Draper and photographs by Crease. He returned to Channel 9 in April 1987 as presenter for ''

'' with Rob Kelvin. Together, the pair would enjoy considerable ratings success, taking '' Nine News Adelaide'' to the top of the ratings in the 1990s. On 9 February 2007, co-host Rob Kelvin announced that Crease was going through a serious health issue and was taking extended leave from presenting. It was revealed on 17 March 2007 on ''

'' that he was suffering from a 'serious form of cancer'. The '' Sunday Mail'' reported the following day that Crease would be retiring from television broadcasting.

Death

Crease died on 12 April 2007, aged 70 at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Honours

Following his death, Crease was posthumously inducted into the South Australian Media Hall of Fame. The award was accepted by his son, Tom Crease, at the awards ceremony held 28 April 2007, at the Adelaide Festival Centre. Later that week NWS-9 aired ''Farewell Creasey'' which was the top rating program in Adelaide for the week.

Personal life

He had three children with his first wife Josie. He was also the father with his second wife Cathy of

Frenzal Rhomb Frenzal Rhomb are an Australian punk rock band that formed in 1992 in Sydney. Three of the group's albums have entered the top 20 on the ARIA Albums Chart: '' A Man's Not a Camel'' (1999), '' Hi-Vis High Tea'' (2017) and '' Smoko at the ...

bassist Tom Crease.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crease, Kevin Nine News presenters Journalists from South Australia Australian people of Irish descent Deaths from cancer in South Australia People from Adelaide 1936 births 2007 deaths