IAN TURPIE

Ian Bruce Turpie was born on 6 November 1943 at Ferntree Gully's Bush Nursing Hospital to Don Turpie (1911–1990), a shipping clerk and Joyce (née Olson, 1917–1999) and grew up with six siblings. He attended nearby Boronia State School, where he performed gymnastics and school plays. His first starring role, in a school play, was as the titular character in Toad of Toad Hall, at the local Progress Hall, in August 1954. He began his entertainment career at the age of 10, when he was accepted at the Hector Crawford Drama School. For secondary education he attended a technical high school.

Turpie also gained recognition as a juvenile actor working in radio. He appeared in radio programmes alongside Robert Helpmann and June Bronhill, and in the Crawford radio series, D24, which was recorded at the 3DB studios in Melbourne and broadcast nationally over the Major Broadcasting Network. During his teens, Turpie began his music career and focused on playing guitar, songwriting and singing. By the age of 16, he was a seasoned radio and stage performer, touring Australia in Peter Pan (1957), Auntie Mame (1959) and Bye Bye Birdie (1961) and appearing in several National Theatre productions including Shakespeare's Macbeth.

Turpie played a radical student, who is shot dead in a bank robbery, in the opening scene of the debut episode of Crawford Productions' police procedural TV series, Homicide (October 1964). He had made his TV debut in May of that year in a guest role in the episode, "Queen Versus Wilson" of the courtroom drama Consider Your Verdict. Turpie performed on Bandstand, Time for Terry and The Graham Kennedy Show during the early 1960s. He replaced Johnny O'Keefe for a stint as national host on TV pop music show, Sing, Sing, Sing. He was an early boyfriend of Olivia Newton-John, with whom he appeared in a 1965 Australian musical telemovie, Funny Things Happen Down Under, which was Newton-John's debut performance. He was chosen to host the teenage variety show The Go!! Show from mid-1965 until the end of 1966.

Turpie recorded on the Leedon during this period with singles: ''The Decimal Point / Tell Her We're Through'' (1964) and ''I Can't Go Wrong / Not You'' (1965). These songs were released in NZ as well. In the early 70s he teamed up with Buddy England and Richard Wright (ex The Groop). As Love Story they recorded a cover of "Neanderthal Man", a song written and recorded by Kevin Godley, Lol Creme and Eric Stewart, three quarters of what soon became 10CC. Love Story's version charted peaking at #15 on the Go-Set Top 60. A name change to Tadpole saw them record the poppy little track, "Throw A Little Lovin' My Way" which was released in January 1971 and made #37. Both of these tracks were recorded on the short-lived Air label owned by Buddy England.

In the 1970s, Turpie moved to Sydney to work the club circuit, and he continued to make guest appearances on numerous television shows, including The Mike Walsh Show, The Bert Newton Show, A Guy Called Athol, and the ABC variety series Follies. In the following decade, Turpie became a nationwide figure as host of the game show The New Price Is Right (1981–1985, 1989). This was followed by two other game shows, Press Your Luck (1987–1988) and Supermarket Sweep (1992–1994).

Turpie developed cult status following a four-year stint as Club President on Roy & HG's Club Buggery (1995–1997) and its sequel, The Channel Nine Show (1998). Known as the Giant of the G Chord, he performed renditions of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit", and, complete with suspenders, The Rocky Horror Picture Show's "Time Warp". Less serious Club Buggery appearances in sketches, "Turps About the House", "Captain Ajax" and "Sam Stain", showcased his comedic talents, as did a semi-regular role as cabaret-style singer Rolan Fields in drama series Always Greener (2001–03). From 2000 he acted in the TV comedy series Pizza and had a lead role in Housos (2011) as Wazza Jones, who was also the program's narrator. He portrayed depot manager Keith Warne in Swift & Shift Couriers seasons one (2008) and two (2011). On 18 February 2011, it was announced that Turpie, a heavy smoker, had been diagnosed with oesophageal cancer. He died on 11 March 2012, aged 68. When The Price is Right debuted its reboot in 2012, host Larry Emdur dedicated the first episode in memory of Turpie.

SINGLES

''The Decimal Point / Tell Her We're Through'' 1964 Leedon
''I Can't Go Wrong / Not You'' 1965 Leedon

EPs
'The Decimal Point Song' 1965 Leedon

ALBUMS

'Turps Is The Talk Of The Town' 1996 ABC

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Turpie