Pete Smith, still the one.

Veteran entertainer and the voice of Channel Nine, Pete Smith, was lauded yesterday by the network in honour of his 50 years with the network.

GTV9 Managing Director Ian Paterson welcomed the guests which included Jackie Smith and family, Bert & Patti Newton, Daryl Somers, Ernie Carroll, Peter Hitchener, Glenn Ridge, John Blackman, Mike McColl-Jones, Bruce Mansfield, Phillip Brady, Jo Hall, Tony Jones, Brett McLeod, Jeff Browne and more.

Also in attendance was Smith’s 99 year old father, Les.

 

Longtime colleague Bert Newton made tribute to his friend.

“A wonderful performer, a terrific bloke, a bloke you could bet your life on,” he said.

“There were 3 people back in the early days that I thought Channel Nine could not do without. One was Sir Eric Pearce, the other was Joff Ellen and Pete Smith. It wasn’t just what they did on camera, it was what they did around the corridors of Channel Nine.

“A great announcer, a great compere and I think more importantly, just a likeable bloke.

“If I go before you, and the betting is 5 to 4 on, I want you to speak, and I want you to lie if necessary!” he joked.

“Peter, there is only one of you and I wish there was more. But God only made one like you.”

There were also video messages from Tony Barber, Glenn Ridge, Phillip Brady, Bruce Mansfield, Denis Walter, Peter Hitchener, Paul Cronin, Tracy Grimshaw, Mike McColl-Jones, John Deeks, Tony Martin, Rob Sitch, Tom Gleisner and Santo Cilauro and, punning on the surname, even Dick Smith.

Nine does this sort of thing like nobody else.

 

The guest of honour gave a humble speech paying tribute to some of the guests in the room, especially the veterans who had meant so much to his career.

He recalled an early contract negotiation with Nigel Dick from Radio 3AK, then owned by Nine.

“You offered me $70 and I wanted $100. So you said, ‘You want to do some disk jockey work you can do a penthouse party on Saturday afternoon on 3AK we’ll give you $30 bucks.’ And that made up the $100. So why would I leave?,” he recalled.

“This is what this place is all about. People. Adrian (Dellevergin, producer) is here. I haven’t got a very good memory but I can remember the first day he walked through those huge Studio 9 doors as a contestant on New Faces in a white suit, as a little boy. I think he was 11.

“You guys are carrying on the future, and I know all about it because I’m in a privileged position.

“Every week I walk around, not necessarily to come straight through your department, but I do try and come through in a calendar month. Every department. So you can see that I haven’t carked it.”

Classic stuff.