Bill Peach

William Norman Peach AM (15 May 1935 – 27 August 2013[1]) known as Bill Peach, was an Australian television journalist who hosted the ABC current affairs program This Day Tonight from 1967 to 1975.

For the Canadian football player, see Billy Peach.
For the English cricketer, see William Peach.
Bill Peach

AM
Born
William Norman Peach

(1935-05-15)15 May 1935
Lockhart, New South Wales, Australia
Died27 August 2013(2013-08-27) (aged 78)
St Leonards, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
NationalityAustralian
EducationSt Stanislaus College (Bathurst)
Alma materSt John's College, University of Sydney
OccupationTelevision presenter and journalist, travel operator
EmployerAustralian Broadcasting Corporation
TelevisionThis Day Tonight
Spouse(s)Shirley Peach (1960–1997; her death)

Early life and education

Peach was born in 1935 in the Riverina town of Lockhart, New South Wales. He was educated at a boarding school, St Stanislaus College in Bathurst, and then studied a master of arts degree at St John's College, University of Sydney, where he met his future wife, Shirley.[2]

Media career

Peach joined the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) in 1958, as a specialist trainee in the talks department. In 1960, he joined the Sydney office of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) where he worked in program sales. In 1962, he and his wife moved to the United Kingdom, where he worked for three years for the BBC overseas service, based in London and later New York City.[2]

Returning to Australia in 1965, Peach joined Network Ten, where he co-produced and presented Australia's first current affairs program, Telescope, with Tanya Halesworth. In 1966, he returned to the ABC as a reporter for Four Corners.[3] In 1967, he was appointed as the presenter of ABC's new evening current affairs series, This Day Tonight, which he hosted for eight years.[2]

In 1975, Peach left This Day Tonight and was awarded a Logie in that year for Outstanding Contribution to Television in recognition of his eight years of service on the program. He then hosted a travel series called Peach's Australia and wrote two books in the Ginger Meggs series. Bill Peach also wrote The Explorers, published in 1984, dealing with the early European explorers of Australia during the colonial era and presented the eponymous TV show.[4]

Tourism career

After leaving the ABC, Peach started a travel and tourism company, Bill Peach Journeys.[5]

In the 1991 Queen's Birthday Honours, Peach was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to the media and to tourism.[6]

Death

Peach died of cancer at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney in the early morning of 27 August 2013.[1]

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References
  1. "Former This Day Tonight presenter Bill Peach dies". ABC News. 27 August 2013. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  2. Thompson, Peter. "Bill Peach". Talking Heads. ABC. Archived from the original on 10 December 2008. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  3. Bill Peach interviewed by Ann Turner (sound recording), National Library of Australia, 1994.
  4. Peach, Bill, AustLit.
  5. "Bill Peach and Robyn Nevin". The Backyard. ABC Radio. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  6. PEACH, William Norman AM, It's an Honour, 10 June 1991.
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