Richard Morecroft (born 20 January 1956) is an English-born Australian radio announcer, TV newsreader and presenter, and conservationist. He presented the Adelaide News bulletin, before becoming the long-running host of the nightly bulletin of ABC News NSW from 1983 until 2002. Between 2010 and 2012, he hosted the quiz show '' Letters and Numbers''.

Early life

Morecroft was born in

Market Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough District, Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, in the far southeast of the county, forming part of the border with Northamptonshire. Market Harborough's population was 25,143 in ...

in the English

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Mercia, Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in ...

. His father Peter and mother Phyll moved the family to

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

in 1966 for the benefit of his brother Andrew's respiratory problems; Peter set up a dentist's practice there.

Broadcasting career

Morecroft studied English and Drama at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on ...

with thoughts of becoming an actor or teacher. He became involved in the university radio station and auditioned for the ABC before completing his degree. He was hired as a radio announcer and later transferred to work in television, hosting the 7pm Adelaide bulletin for a couple of years before being approached to replace

James Dibble James Edward Dibble (4 February 1923 – 13 December 2010) was an Australian television presenter, best known as the presenter of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC) Sydney news for 27 years, from Monday, 5 November 1956 until his ...

who had presented the bulletin since it began in 1956. He moved to Sydney in 1982 and took over the 7pm Sydney bulletin in July 1983, as well as presenting Behind the News. In 1985, he and Geraldine Doogue co-hosted "The National", the ABC's short-lived experiment with an hour-long nightly news service, combining news and current affairs, with Max Walsh and Richard Carlton as chief reporters. Also during his time with the ABC, Morecroft participated with the ABC's Natural History Unit in the production of ''Raising Archie'', about a

flying fox ''Pteropus'' (suborder Yinpterochiroptera) is a genus of megabats which are among the largest bats in the world. They are commonly known as fruit bats or flying foxes, among other colloquial names. They live in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Aust ...

which he raised and used to keep under the news desk while at work. Morecroft presented the 7pm Sydney news bulletin until 2002, and also hosted election-night broadcasts and educational programs. Morecroft became such a widely recognizable Australian newscaster that he appeared as himself in many Australian movies and television shows during and after his career. Including: '' Police Rescue'' (1991–1996), '' The Roly Poly Man'' (1993), '' Wildside'' (1997–1998) and '' Red Hill'' (2010). He left the ABC in 2002, being replaced by

Tony Eastley Tony Eastley is an Australian newspaper journalist and radio and television newsreader and host Journalism career Eastley began his journalism career in the 1970s with ''The Examiner'' newspaper in Launceston, Tasmania before joining the Austral ...

, and underwent a sea change, moving to a property near

Jervis Bay Jervis Bay () is a oceanic bay and village on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, said to possess the whitest sand in the world. A area of land around the southern headland of the bay is a territory of the Commonwealth of Austral ...

with his partner, artist Alison Mackay. He said he was not retiring, but wanted to work in a different way. Morecroft returned to the ABC to host ''Richard Morecroft Goes Wild'' in 2002, drawing on his passion for environmental issues. In 2010, it was announced that he would host '' Letters and Numbers'' on

SBS Television The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from the Australian Government. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS Wor ...

, an Australian version of the French

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...

'' Des chiffres et des lettres'', on which the British game show ''

Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...

'' is based. The first program aired on 2 August 2010. Morecroft was joined by

crossword A crossword is a word puzzle that usually takes the form of a square or a rectangular grid of white- and black-shaded squares. The goal is to fill the white squares with letters, forming words or phrases, by solving clues which lead to th ...

compiler David Astle and mathematician

Lily Serna Lily Serna is an Australian mathematician and television presenter, best known for co-presenting the SBS game shows '' Letters and Numbers'' (2010−2012) and '' Celebrity Letters and Numbers'' (2021−), as well as the cooking show ''Destina ...

Environmental activities

Morecroft is a governor of the Taronga Foundation and a director of the

Zoological Parks Board of New South Wales The Taronga Conservation Society is a Government of New South Wales agency responsible for Taronga Zoo Sydney and the Taronga Western Plains Zoo in New South Wales, Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sove ...

. He is a trustee of the

World Wide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wor ...

and is a patron of

WIRES A wire is a strand of drawn metal used especially in electrical conductors and fencing. wire may also refer to: Abbreviations Note: These terms are often shortened to simply ''wire'', ''wires'' or ''wired''. * Wire, a covert listening device ...

Publications

His book ''20 Years from the Waist Up'' was published in 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morecroft, Richard ABC News (Australia) presenters Living people 1956 births English emigrants to Australia Articles containing video clips