Australian Story: March 13
Valerie Taylor, and husband Ron, have been legends in underwater cinematography for their work with sharks.
- Published by David Knox
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- Filed under Programming
On Monday’s Australian Story is a profile of legendary underwater cinematographer, Valerie Taylor, who with husband Ron captured daring shark footage in numerous documentaries.
This is Part I, presented by Leigh Sales.
Underwater explorer, film-making pioneer and trailblazing conservationist, Valerie Taylor’s life has been one big adventure.
The woman in the pink wetsuit burst onto our TV screens in the 1960s, stunning viewers with rare images of the ocean world.
Her work with sharks is legendary and her advocacy relentless. She’s swum with the most feared sharks in the world and on the rare occasion she’s been bitten, has dived right back in.
With her cinematographer husband Ron, she famously worked with director Steven Spielberg on the blockbuster film Jaws, capturing thrilling images of great white sharks in the wild.
“They brought the underwater world into the home. The two of them together were just an amazing unit. Both of them were like dolphins in the water”, says diving friend Mike McDowell.
“We’d never seen anything like it”, says friend and Australian Museum Director Kim McKay, recalling their early films.
But few people are aware of her early life above water as the actor who guest-starred in the hit TV series Skippy and trod the boards of Sydney’s Ensemble Theatre. Yet a life on stage wasn’t exciting enough for Valerie.
“I wanted to do other things”, she says. “I wanted something more adventurous.”
Early in her career, Valerie transformed from shark hunter to shark advocate, her special passion – the critically endangered grey nurse.
Now 87 years old, Valerie is unstoppable. She’s still campaigning to protect marine life and is inspiring a new generation of ocean lovers to join her.
This fascinating two-part program does a deep dive into the incredible life of a true pioneer with precious home movies from Valerie’s childhood and behind the scenes footage from her most influential documentaries.
“Valerie showed the world that sharks aren’t the monsters that people had mistaken them to be”, says Leo Guida from the Australian Marine Conservation Society.
Producer: Jennifer Feller.
8pm Monday on ABC.
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One Response
I usually avoid Australian Story as it’s one of the few shows that I can be in a good mood before I watch and then after totally sad and depressed. But I like it when they feature someone like Valerie Taylor who won’t be all sob story and is an interesting person with a life fully lived. I’ve read her autobiography and it’s a wild adventure. Thank you for the alert she’s on it David otherwise I would have missed this.