William Russell Tyson (20 April 1920 - 11 September 2014) was an Australian radio announcer and television presenter.

Career

Radio

Tyson was arguably best known for his radio work, particularly with

ABC Radio Brisbane ABC Radio Brisbane (callsign: 4QR) is an ABC Local Radio radio station, station in Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of the largest stations in the network, serving as a base for Queensland programming – many programs are broadcast across the ...

where he commenced as a

cadet A cadet is a student or trainee within various organisations, primarily in military contexts where individuals undergo training to become commissioned officers. However, several civilian organisations, including civil aviation groups, maritime ...

announcer in 1939. He subsequently became known for presenting a national breakfast program and the popular ''Hospital Half-Hour'' program. Tyson was the second of three announcers who presented ''The Hospital Half-Hour'', taking over from the show's original host, Mike Connors, after Connors died in 1949.(3 May 1975
"The Hospital Hour to end"
''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in 1 ...

''. Retrieved 23 October 2018. Tyson had previously filled in for Connors during his ill health. Following disagreements regarding the direction of the breakfast program, Tyson resigned from the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

in 1966. Tyson was replaced on ''The Hospital Half-Hour'' by Garry Ord, who hosted the program until it was axed in 1975. After leaving the ABC, Tyson worked for commercial station 4KQ until his retirement in 1976.

Television

Tyson was the first person to appear on

ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or ABC ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, when

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

station ABQ commenced transmission on 2 November 1959. Among the television programs he hosted were ''Anything Goes'' and ''On Camera''.

Books

Throughout his career, Tyson also released a number books. These include: *''What is a -? : a collection of listeners' contributions read by Russ Tyson in the Hospital Half-Hour of the ABC'' (1960) *''Philosopher's Note Book'' (1961) *''Philosopher's Scrap Book'' (1963) *''Russ Tyson's Australian Christmas Book'' (1965) *''Russ Tyson's Philosophy Corner''(1968) *''Russ Tyson's New Philosophy'' (1970) *''The Best of Russ Tyson'' (1973)

Later years and death

Tyson attended the ABC's 75th birthday celebrations in 2007. In 2012, he was a guest at the official opening of the ABC's new Brisbane studio complex at

South Bank The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial area on the south bank of the River Thames, in the London Borough of Lambeth, central London, England. The South Bank is not formally defined, but is generally understood to be situated betwe ...

. Tyson died at the age of 94 on 11 September 2014."Vale: ABC's Russ Tyson"
''Radio Today'', 12 September 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tyson, Russ Radio and television announcers Australian radio presenters Australian television presenters 1920 births 2014 deaths