Russell Lesley Woolf (1964 – 26 October 2021) was an Australian media personality who was best known as a presenter on ABC Radio Perth in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

Early life

Woolf was born and raised in Perth. He attended Carmel School. After finishing high school he spent a year in Israel before returning to Perth to study at the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

and

Curtin University Curtin University, formerly known as Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT), is an Australian public research university based in Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. It is named after John Curtin, ...

. In his mid-20s, he studied broadcasting at the

Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) at Edith Cowan University (ECU) was established in 1980 to provide performing arts tuition. WAAPA (commonly pronounced "whopp-a") operates as a part of ECU, located at the ECU campus in ...

Career

He worked as a presenter for 6SE Radio West in Esperance for 18 months, then spent two years at 6KG in

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

, before joining the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

(ABC) in 1997 as its Karratha-based resources reporter, a position he held for five years. Woolf then returned to Perth where he co-hosted 720's afternoon show with Verity James. In 2005 he took over the late afternoon ''Drive'' program, where he remained until resigning from the ABC in December 2013. Woolf was also the weather presenter for Perth's ''

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

'' from 2007 to 2011. The role was removed by the ABC for budgetary reasons; subsequently the weather was presented by the main newsreader (

Karina Carvalho Karina Carvalho is an Australian journalist. She was born in Sri Lanka, and moved to Perth at the age of four. She is currently a presenter on the ABC News Channel, and also presents the late news on ABC Monday-Wednesday, with Jeremy Fernandez ...

at the time). Woolf was an ambassador for the Western Australian Commissioner for Children and Young People, and a patron of Inclusion WA. He was a candidate in the 2014 WA Senate by-election (together with Verity James) on a "Save Our ABC" platform. In 2015, Woolf announced he was moving with his family to the United States, leaving his position as host of ''Saturday Breakfast'' on 720 after his last show on 12 December 2015. He returned to ABC Radio Perth in January 2019, co-presenting the weekday ''Breakfast'' program with

Nadia Mitsopoulos Nadia Mitsopoulos (1971) is an Australian journalist. She currently presents the ''Mornings'' program on ABC Radio Perth. Career Mitsopoulos began her journalism career in 1991 with Golden West Network based in Albany, Western Australia. S ...

. In January 2021, Mitsopoulos moved to the ''Mornings'' program, leaving Woolf presenting solo.

Personal life

Woolf was married and the couple had a daughter, born in 2008. He was Jewish.

Death

Woolf died in his sleep unexpectedly in the early morning of 26 October 2021, at the age of 56. His death was announced on ABC Radio Perth by Woolf's colleague, Geoff Hutchison. Among those who paid tribute to Woolf were Western Australian premier Mark McGowan and former ABC Radio co-host and close friend Nadia Mitsopoulos. He is buried at

Karrakatta Cemetery Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, the first being that of wheelwright Robert Creighton. Managed by the Metropolitan Ce ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Woolf, Russell 1964 births 2021 deaths Australian television newsreaders and news presenters Australian Jews Australian radio personalities Burials at Karrakatta Cemetery People from Perth, Western Australia