Daryl Somers, Steve Vizard, Pete Smith remember Philip Brady

Television giants have paid tribute to legendary broadcaster Philip Brady, who died this week aged 85.

In a Facebook post Daryl Somers said, “On a personal level, Philip discovered a young band playing at an event he was hosting at the Melbourne Town Hall in 1967. He encouraged the band to enter New Faces, a talent show on GTV, which they subsequently won. I was the 15yr old drummer / vocalist in that band, so thank you Phil for your very early support of my career. Rest in peace dear friend, Daryl.”

Tonight Live host Steve Vizard told TV Tonight he grew up living not far from GTV9 studios and from the family home on a hill could look down from his bedroom on the Television City district.

“Mum and Dad would be watching IMT and all the shows that were on. I could see Philip, literally him on telly, and I could go up to my bedroom and see where it was coming from. Graham Kennedy, Phil and Joff Allen and all those guys created the magic of television for me in particular, but for a nation as a whole. Llive TV was a miracle and IMT was at the pinnacle of that.

“The relationship between Phil and Graham was extraordinary. I mean, Graham, even though he wasonly three or four years older, sort of used him as the fall guy. But it takes a huge skill to position yourself as a full-blown comedic character with someone like a Graham Kennedy, because you’re every bit as equal to the person you’re working with. You’re just doing a different job. You’ve got to understand what how they’re going to get their laugh, and you’ve got to let them do that. So not only have to be a gifted comedian, you have to have a certain humility as well.”

During Tonight Live‘s run on Seven from 1990 to 1993, Brady became a regular at the suggestion of comedy writer Mike McColl-Jones.

“We must have flown him down from the Gold Coast 30 times, and he came on the show regularly. He was always funny. We never knew what he was going to talk about, and every time he came on, he was funny.But he was always trying to get a free airfare as well,” he continued.

“I remember one time talking about meeting the survivor of the Titanic. He was actually holding a model of a Continental Airlines 747 because he wanted to get a free ticket to the United States, and by the time that segment was over, Continental had rung up and given him a first class airfare! The guy was a genius!”

Vizard kept in touch with his friend until recently, when Brady continued on 3AW.

“We’d have dinner occasionally and he was the most humble man. Most people don’t know he went to mass every single day. He was a devout man, and I think that humility shows in the way he conducted himself,” he observed.

“One of the great things about Philip was he offered this huge experience, not just of having worked with Don Lane, Graham, Bert, Joff Ellen, Toni Lamond and all these people who were household names at the time, but the repository of knowledge of live performance, of sketches that he’d done… the guests that he’d seen, Bob Hope, James Mason and huge stars of the screen that he worked with. It was a privilege to work with him.”

Pete Smith also told TV Tonight, “We were boyhood friends of course and, along with the likes of other boyhood friends like Mike Walsh, maybe you could say that during those years growing up we idolised the radio stars of the day… The Jack Davies… the Bob Dyers… the Norman Banks.  They’d only be names to your younger readers but nevertheless all we wanted to be was a Radio announcer.

“Phil of course went straight into TV where filling in for two weeks as a temporary announcer he started a lifetime in TV and on radio too.

“And so with Phil‘s passing, he himself is acknowledged as a Radio and TV legend. Very well deserved.  He had hung up his microphone but we will always be able to listen to him one way or another.”