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Vale: Hugh Stuckey

Veteran writer, who wrote for IMT, I Dream of Jeannie & Neighbours, has died.

Veteran writer Hugh Stuckey, who wrote for IMT, I Dream of Jeannie & Neighbours, has died, aged 89.

Stuckey was a lover of great comedy, first working in radio and stage. During World War II he gave 350 comedy performances for the Australian troops before writing for ABC Radio, Radio 3DB and 3AW.

In he 1950s he wrote scripts for The Cadbury Show, In Sydney Tonight and became head writer for In Melbourne Tonight with Graham Kennedy.

In the 1960s he wrote 46 one hour episodes of The Delo & Daly Show before heading to the US to write for Desilu Productions learning directly from the writers of The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Danny Thomas Show and The Andy Griffith Show. In the US he would later write for Bewitched, The Flying Nun, I Dream of Jeannie & Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In. In the UK he wrote for The Two Ronnies, Dave Allen at Large, The Dick Emery Show, The Bill, Moon and Son and Frankie’s On.

In Australia his credits included Time for Terry, The Jimmy Hannan Show,  The Tony Hancock Special, Neighbours, The Restless Years, A Country Practice, The Adventures of Blinky Bill and Blue Heelers.

Stuckey was a founding member and life member of the Australian Writers’ Guild, receiving the Fred Parsons Award for his lifetime contribution to Australian comedy in 2005.

He also lectured at the Film and Television School and at RMIT Screenwriting, where I remember his classes embracing Seinfeld, Frasier and classic Hollywood sitcoms.

Source: Australian Writers Guild

6 Responses

  1. My mum’s cousin. She has many fond memories, most of them funny.
    He was MC at my parents wedding and apparently his speech was hysterical.

  2. Hugh’s passing comes just days after the 50th anniversary of the death in Sydney on 24 June 1968 of British TV and radio comedy star Tony Hancock (of Hancock’s Half Hour fame) who shocked fans worldwide when he took his own life, leaving this note: “Things seemed to go wrong too many times”. Hancock, who was as popular in Australia as he was in Britain, was in Sydney to shoot an Australian comedy series, written by Hugh, who became close to Hancock as he helped the comic deal with his many insecurities.

  3. I recognized the name but couldn’t remember from where until I read the short bio. What an accomplished gentleman, I had know idea he wrote for overseas programs as well

    1. Likewise; his name looked familiar and an impressive resume of programs. It’s been a sad month with Tony Morphett as well. We need our writers and we need them to continue to write. Big loss.

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