Vale: Maggie Tabberer
Fashion icon, former TV presenter and Gold Logie winner Maggie Tabberer has died.
- Published by David Knox
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Fashion icon, former TV presenter and Gold Logie winner Maggie Tabberer has died, aged 87.
Her daughter, author Amanda Tabberer, wrote on Instagram, “This morning we lost our beautiful mother and Nanna. She was an icon in every sense of the word and we will miss her dearly… Along with the rest of Australia.
“Rest in peace Nanna. We love you to bits forever.”
Tabberer founded her own fashion label and PR companies, was named Australia’s Model of the Year in 1960 and wrote a fashion column, “Maggie Says”, for The Daily Mirror.
She remained with the paper for 16 years, until billionaire Kerry Packer asked her to become fashion editor of Australian Women’s Weekly magazine in 1981. She soon became the public face of the magazine, frequently appearing on its cover and in television advertising. Tabberer stayed with the magazine for 15 years until 1996.
Tabberer began appearing on television in 1964, as one of the “beauties” on Beauty and the Beast, alongside Eric Baume until 1965 and then Stuart Wagstaff. Her appearances made her a household name and she later began hosting her own daily chat show on Seven, Maggie, for which she won two consecutive Gold Logies in 1970 and 1971 – the first person to win back to back Gold. She would return alongside Stan Zemanek on Foxtel’s Beauty and the Beast revival and was an occasional guest host on Midday.
A later TV career came in 2005 with Foxtel’s Maggie … At Home With, visiting the homes of celebrities and socialites including John Olsen, Susan Renouf, Iva Davies, Ian Thorpe, Hawke and Blanch D’Alpuget, and Siimon Reynolds.
It ran for 8 seasons until 2009 with Foxtel’s Brian Walsh then saying, “Maggie Tabberer is an absolute phenomenon in the Australian television industry. The astounding line up of guests that have welcomed Maggie and her interview style series into their hearts and homes over the past eight years is a true testament to her popularity and reverence and it has been such a delight for all of us at Foxtel to work with her on delivering the series to subscription television viewers.”
In 2017 her 80th birthday was held in the NSW Southern Highlands attended by family, friends, media and fashion guests.
Walsh then told TV Tonight, ““It was a very special day and a fabulous party made up of a great cast, fabulous food and wine, a South American party band, memorable and emotional speeches and lots of dancing. Brooke took to the microphone with an incredible rendition of ‘Fever’ and Maggie joined me to start a conga line which brought every guest to their feet to bring the party to a spectacular finale.”
In 1998 was made a Member of the Order of Australia for service to the community, particularly through her support for charitable organisations and the advancement of the Australian fashion industr
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Source: news.com.au, Wikipedia
- Tagged with Beauty and the Beast, Maggie, Maggie At Home With, Midday
12 Responses
The epitome of class …RIP Maggie.
R.I.P Maggie you will be very much missed
Vale Maggie T.
She also co-hosted The Home Show on the ABC in the 1990s with her then partner Richard Zachariah.
I used to watch this as a young kid and was the precursor to Our House, Better Homes, The Living Room.
I bought some of her “Maggie T” clothing line that are classic and timeless (just like she was) which I still have to this day.. I even went on a Club Med holiday because of the add she did…I think she was the original “ influencer” even before it became a fad or trend. What a terrible lose so close to Xmas for her family…my sympathies go to her family and friends…Thank You Maggie T for all the joy you brought…RIP🕊️
What sad news.Maggie Tabberer was the very epitome of style,elegance and class,not to mention beauty.She was a real trailblazer for women in the fashion industry and the entertainment industry as well.She will be greatly missed.
RIP Maggie.
Total Respect….I lady I greatly admired.
Another name that should have been in the Logies Hall of Fame while alive, But that’s the problem (and the pain) with only one induction per year.
Yes she was on one of the long early lists TVT ran many years ago now.
Yeah I was thinking about that the other day, It was in 2009, a year after Heath Ledger died, people were criticising the logies for inducting Steve Irwin into the logies hall of fame, with that and the fact they haven’t leaked (or even shown past inductee contenders… I’m curious, I’d find it funny if once-biggest names in television like Don Lane or Graham Kennedy were beaten out before they were inducted, and ironic if when Ruth Cracknell was inducted they only had women on that list) and I have a theory they purposely leaked the list of contenders to show everyone “See, Heath Ledger’s not even considered”
Irwin had global TV success with Crocodile Hunter whereas most of Heath Ledger’s success was cinema. But broadly speaking names can be submitted several times before being selected. The criteria is pretty broad and changes according to submissions and judges. A shame Maggie wasn’t inducted but two Gold is nothing to be sneezed at.
Thoughts and prayers to her lovely daughters and all those who loved her.
Rest in paradise dear Maggie.
Oh this one hurts. Such a beautiful and classy lady inside and out. Very sad. RIP Ms Maggie Tabberer