Geoff Harvey

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Geoff Harvey OAM
Born Geoffrey John Harvey
(1935-08-06) 6 August 1935 (age 88)
London, England, United Kingdom
Residence Berrima, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation Musical director
Years active 1961–present
Known for The Mike Walsh Show
Midday
The Don Lane Show
Carols by Candlelight
Spouse(s) Penny Spence
Katrina Harvey (m. 1987)
Children 2
Website geoffharveyshow.com.au

Geoffrey John "Geoff" Harvey OAM (born 6 August 1935)[1] is an Australian musician and television personality who worked on the Nine Network for 38 years.

Early life

Harvey was born in London in 1935[2] and lived through the Blitz during the Second World War.[3] Born into a musical family, his father played the fiddle while his mother was a piano player. Harvey began playing piano and the organ aged six and began playing at his local catholic church at the age of eight. By age 14, he was playing in Westminster Cathedral.[3] His first job was a saxophonist in a band at the Round Towers Irish Club in Holloway Road, North London as a 15 year old.[4] After completing his education and national service he began playing in jazz clubs in England and in Europe.[2]

Nine Network

John Sturman, of EMI Records enticed Harvey to come to Australia in 1960. Producing records for the label with Patsy Ann Noble and Bryan Davies,[5] he was only due to stay in country for a year but decided to stay on, soon gaining employment in television.[3] Harvey joined the Nine Network in 1961 working on Bob Rogers’ Tonight Show. In 1963, he was appointed the musical director of Tonight with Dave Allen went on to work on The John Laws Show, Tonight Show with Charlie Brill and Mitzi McCall, Bandstand, Barry Crocker's Sound of Music and The Don Lane Show.[6] His most prominent role as the musical director of The Mike Walsh Show, running on Nine from 1977 to 1984 and its successor Midday which aired from 1985 to 1998. During the program's run he employed three bands which were rotated week to week. A staunch advocates of live music on television in Australia, he often had battles with the management of the network.[2] During his time at Nine, he composed the theme songs for the The Sullivans, A Current Affair, Today and Sunday.[2][3]

From 1984 to 2002, Harvey was also the musical director of Carols by Candlelight on Christmas Eve in Melbourne at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl before his successor John Foreman took over in 2003.[7]

Known as practical joker and for making wild bets, his beard came as result of losing a bet in 1965 to Don Lane on football match.[6]

Post television career

Following the cancellation of Midday he retired from Nine after 38 years in May 1999. He appeared briefly on Sydney radio station 2GB alongside Kerri-Anne Kennerly in 2000.[2]

In 1998, he appointed as the joint patron of the Mo Awards alongside Tommy Tycho who had been sole patron since 1981. They both continued in this role until 2005, with Harvey also serving as chairman in 1998 and from 2000 to 2002.[8]

Harvey revisited his organ studies in 2002 and was able to play the Westminster Cathedral Organ once again. He received his Associate in Music, Australia in organ in 2004 from the Australian Music Examinations Board and four years later his Licentiate from Trinity College London.[2] In October 2008, Harvey donated to the National Library of Australia his collection of 5,000 arrangements of popular music, television program themes, and incidental music used by the Nine Network[2] and in 2011, he began teaching music in his studio.[9]

As of 2018, Harvey is still working aged 83. He performing live theatre, taking to the stage to play piano in his comedy revue Senior Moments with Lex Marinos, Benita Collings and John Derum.[10]

Awards

Harvey was a recipient of the Medal of the Order of Australia during the 2006 Queen's Birthday honours for "service to the community as a musician and entertainer, and through support for charitable organisations".[11] Harvey has been a patron, ConnecTeD (Friends of the Connective Tissue Dysplasia, Children's Hospital at Westmead), since 1992.[12][13]

Personal life

Harvey married fellow television personality Penny Spence and had two children together Eugenie (born 1968)[14] and Charlotte two years later. They lived together in the Sydney suburb of Epping.[15] He currently lives in the village of Berrima in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales with his second wife Katrina whom he married in 1987. Katrina also worked at Nine as the long time personal assistant to executive Sam Chisholm.[16] He has four grandchildren.[2]

References

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  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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