Hugh Cornish, Queensland’s first television star, has died at a retirement village in Brisbane overnight, aged 90.
A television elder statesman, Cornish was the first to greet Channel 9 audiences in Queensland when television went live on August 16, 1959.
“I said something like, ‘Hello Brisbane, welcome to television’ and really, that was it,” Cornish recalled in a 1990s interview.
In a 1984 interview, he added: “When I read television’s first television news bulletin on Sunday the 16th of August, 1959, was the visit of Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra of Kent.
“These historic shots of her arrival in our national capital are our oldest in our archives.”
Cornish eventually became the general manager of Channel 9 Queensland, where he was the first to run the same shows every night instead of once a week.
“I think he just knew what people wanted to see,” his son Tim Cornish said.
He often market-tested the programs on his own children.
“He’d put on Happy Days and I said, ‘That is a winner’,” Tim said.
During the 1960s, Cornish hosted the variety show Brisbane Tonight before he went on to present the talent show Stairway to the Stars in the 1970s.
He later served as an executive at Nine and the Seven Network.
He graced televisions across decades and was a pivotal force in the entertainment industry.
Eleven years ago when the analogue signal was switched off, Cornish was there.
But behind the scenes, he suffered tragedy. He lost his son after a long disability and his daughter from cancer.
“He’d be running behind the scenes, going out to see his son, looking after his daughter, looking after the family and he was just a stalwart,” producer-director and friend John Stainton said.
Melissa Downes was the last to interview the trailblazer two years ago, where he shared his memories of television.
“It was just a wonderful era. You had to be there to understand,” Cornish said in that interview.
The chemist by trade turned radio presenter and then television star was remembered by his loved ones today after news of his death.
“Every time I think of Hugh Cornish, I think, I know we had the best days in the television industry because they were pioneering days,” former television director Garry Gibson said.
“I just remember him as a kind loveable person who would help anybody.
“This man was interested in television and he wanted to make entertainment and we all chased that.”
“He probably made a bigger impact on getting talent known and up and running in Brisbane than anybody else I know, ever,” Stainton said.
“Entertainment was in his heart and he was the man that set up the first telethons in Queensland and his legacy means that we still have the nine telethons today, so that speaks volumes about the man,” Nine Queensland general manager Kylie Blucher said.
There are now calls for Cornish to be remembered at a state funeral.
“I would like Hughy to be remembered with a state funeral,” Stainton said.
“He was a gentleman. And I would like for him to be remembered as the gentleman of TV,” Tim said.