Sir James Winter Cruthers (20 December 1924 – 13 October 2015) was an Australian media business

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

and philanthropist.

Early life and career

Cruthers was born in 1924 and was educated at

Claremont Claremont may refer to: Places Australia *Claremont, Ipswich, a heritage-listed house in Queensland * Claremont, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart * Claremont, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth * Town of Claremont, Perth * Claremont Airbase, an ...

Central State School and Perth Technical College, leaving school at 16. He started work at the '' Daily News'' newspaper in Perth in 1939 and joined the forces in 1940. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he was a

RAAF The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the governor-general of Aus ...

pilot. After the war he became a cadet journalist at the ''Daily News'', and was there when the paper hired

Paul Rigby Paul Crispin Rigby AM (25 October 1924 – 15 November 2006) was an Australian cartoonist who worked for newspapers in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. He usually worked under the name Rigby. Early life Rigby was born in S ...

as a

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

. In 1958, he was appointed as founding general manager of WA television station TVW Channel 7. He later was promoted chairman of the station.History & Corporate Structure
His chairmanships, included the

Australian Film Commission The Australian Film Commission (AFC) was an Australian government agency was founded in 1975 with a mandate to promote the creation and distribution of films in Australia as well as to preserve the country's film history. It also had a product ...

and News American Publishing Inc, where he was personal adviser to

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian - American retired business magnate, investor, and media mogul. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of List of assets owned by News Corp, local, national, a ...

. In 1999, he was chairman of ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' newspaper. Cruthers was a philanthropist, who established TVW

Telethon A telethon (a portmanteau of "television" and "marathon") is a televised fundraising event that lasts many hours or days, the purpose of which is to raise money for a charitable, political or other cause. Most telethons feature heavy solicitatio ...

and Perth's annual Christmas pageant. He supported many charitable groups, including the

Lions Eye Institute The Lions Eye Institute (LEI) is an Australian medical research institute affiliated with the University of Western Australia. It was established in 1983 with support of the Lions Clubs of Western Australia and headquartered in the suburb of ...

(where he was a founding

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

UWA University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UWA was established in 1911 by ...

's Hackett Foundation,

Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (SCGH) is a teaching hospital in Nedlands, Western Australia. Opened in 1958 as the Perth Chest Hospital and later named in honour of Sir Charles Gairdner, governor of Western Australia from 1951 to 1963, it is p ...

, the Association of the Blind (WA) Guide Dogs and the St George's Cathedral Restoration project. He was the business representative on UWA's

Berndt Museum of Anthropology The Berndt Museum of Anthropology is an anthropological museum in Perth, Western Australia, founded in by Ronald Berndt and Catherine Berndt. It is currently, , located with the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery on the western side of the Univers ...

's advisory board. Cruthers and his wife Lady (Sheila) Cruthers were strong supporters of the arts. His wife was especially interested in twentieth-century art by Australian women, and the

Cruthers Collection of Women's Art Cruthers Collection of Women's Art is a collection of more than 700 artworks by Australian women, held at the University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of W ...

(CCWA) is a collection of artworks by Australian women artists from the 1890s to the present. Both have supported the

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

and the US

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

. in June 2007, Cruthers and his wife donated the Cruthers Collection of Women's Art—more than 400 works by 155 Australian female artists including

Grace Cossington Smith Grace Cossington Smith (20 April 189220 December 1984) was an Visual arts of Australia, Australian artist and pioneer of Modernist art, modernist painting in Australia and was instrumental in introducing Post-Impressionism to her home country. ...

Margaret Preston Margaret Rose Preston (29 April 1875 – 28 May 1963) was an Australian painter, printmaker and writer on art who is regarded as one of Australia's leading modernists of the early 20th century. In her quest to foster an Australian "national ...

and

Susan Norrie Susan Norrie (born 1953) is an Australian artist working primarily with found film and original video installations to explore political and environmental issues. In 2007 she represented Australia at the 52nd Venice Biennale. Early Painting N ...

—to

The University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UWA was established in 1911 by ...

, where it is currently housed at the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery. In 1998 and 1999, Cruthers was conference patron of "small screen BIG PICTURE".

Death

On 13 October 2015, Cruthers died at the age of 90.

Honours

Cruthers was made a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

in 1980. He was appointed an Officer of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in 2008. Cruthers received the honorary degree

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or '), also termed Doctor of Literature in some countries, is a terminal degree in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. In the United States, at universities such as Drew University, the degree ...

from

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

in 2005.Public Affairs – UWA Awards to leading West Australians

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruthers, James 1924 births 2015 deaths Australian philanthropists Australian Knights Bachelor Officers of the Order of Australia Australian World War II pilots Businesspeople from Perth, Western Australia Australian newspaper publishers (people) 20th-century Australian philanthropists Businesspeople awarded knighthoods