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Vale: Sonia Humphrey

Sonia Humphrey, former presenter for ABC's This Day Tonight, Nationwide and Towards 2000, has died aged 63.

Sonia Humphrey, former presenter for ABC’s This Day Tonight, Nationwide and Towards 2000, has died aged 63.

Humphrey first worked in Australian television as a reporter for TEN in 1975, following previous work for ABC (US). She was the first journalist on the scene of the Granville train disaster in 1977, reporting live on the search for survivors. She also served as a TEN newsreader followed by hosting stints with This Day Tonight and Nationwide.

Whilst at the ABC she also presented Towards 2000, opera and ballet simulcasts and The Investigators.

In the early 1980s Humphrey won a claim with the Anti-Discrimination Board after ABC management took her off air, concerned a visible pregnancy would offend viewers.

Later she produced documentaries for Film Australia.

She is survived by Ian, her two sons and her parents.

Source: smh.com.au

11 Responses

  1. As a news cameraman I worked with Sonia at T.E.N 10 in the 1970’s and I remember the day she started. Nice, friendly girl, very determined to do well and noticeably unflappable from the git go. I only learned of her passing when watching Tripod and Eddie Perfect sing, in memoriam, for her and the others at the Logies. A bitter-sweet experience indeed.

  2. I recently relocated to Australia,and was looking forward to locating a good friend and a nice person whom , I knew during the days when she lived in Israel.
    And was looking forward to reminiscing the past with her.
    Unfortunately we missed each other.

  3. As an expatriate living in the United States, I read the obituaries in the SMH every week and was so sorry to find that my compatriot, Sonia Humpreys has died at the age of 63.

    I first met Sonia at Penshurst Girls High School around 1963-64, where we were unfortunate to find ourselves. We were both square pegs in round holes and were lucky to move on to better environs. I met her again in the early 1980’s when we both worked at the ABC in Sydney. She was a wonderful person, a trailblazer, and I am sure her legacy will live on.

  4. I loved towards 2000 and remember her vividly. You know what would be great. To rerun this show now so we can laugh at what we were trying to achieve and how far we have surpassed it.

  5. A face and a voice to remember – quite unique. And a presenter of her time. Thank goodness for women like her and Caroline Jones and Penny Spence and Anne Deveson and others who paved the way. So sad to read of Sonya’s death.
    Way too young.

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