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Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, November 11, 2015 - Page 19
West Hollywood
Radio boss comes to lunch
■ Hi everyone, from my suite at the Ramada Plaza Hotel and Suites comes this week's news.
Selling cricket to LA
Ex-3DB boss in town
■ It was so wonderful to catch up with former GTV 9 - 3AK 6PM /-3DB and 2 DAY FM radio journeyman, Brendan Sheedy, at a lunch at Cicconi's in West Hollywood last week. I am sure many readers of the Melbourne Observer would have had contact with him over the years. Brendan started in the GTV 9 -3AK mail room at the age of 14 straight out of Xavier College in Melbourne. After 10 years 'Mr Packer' appointed him to his Perth radio station 6PM. The first change was to hire former East Perth and Geelong footballer, John K. Watts, as co presenter on the breakfast show with broadcaster Barry Martin. The Martin and Watts radio breakfast show grew to over a 30 per cent share of the available audience. a record that has been never broken. In 1976 Brendan was appointed CEO of Melbourne radio 3DB. at that time part of The Herald and Weekly Times group and HSV Channel 7. Brendan was responsible for putting together the very first footy show on radio. Alan Johnson was one of the first people Brendan met when he went to Perth in 1972; at that time Alan was running the Chateau Commodore. It was agreed that the Old Melbourne Hotel run by Alan Johnson in Melbourne would be the live venue for the Footy Show. Hosted by Michael Williamson along with a very young Sam Newman, Lou Richards, Bob Davis, Ron Barassi, Peter ‘Crackers’ Keenan with regular appearances by Ted Whitten, Kevin Bartlett and Kevin Sheedy. Sound familiar? The radio program ran on for many years after Brendan was appointed CEO of the new Sydney radio station 2DAY FM. Brendan now travels the world keeping in contact with his children and grand children. As I said, it was great to catch up and there were many stories told. Go to lunch with a couple of radio guys and it's hard to get a word in. If you would like to catch up with Brendan, he has given me permission to tell you his email address. brsheedy1@gmail.com
● Brendan Sheedy with Alan Johnson outside of Cicconi's of West Hollywood.
Vale Melissa Mathison ■ Melissa Mathison, screenwriter for E.T., The Black Stallion and Martin Scorsese's Kundun, died in Los Angeles after an illness. She was 65. Mathison was married to Star Wars actor Harrison Ford from 1983 to 2004 and they had two children together. The Oscar-nominated writer recently wrote the screenplay for Steven Spielberg's Roald Dahl adaptation of The BFG, after working with the filmmaker on E.T. in 1982, for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. The BFG is currently in post-production. Steven Spielberg said: "Melissa had a heart that shined with generosity and love and burned as bright as the heart she gave E.T. " Mathison also penned screenplays for The Indian in the Cupboard, The Escape Artist, a segment in the Twilight Zone movie and TV movie Son of the Morning Star. Mathison is survived by her two children Malcolm Ford and Georgia Ford.
● Melissa Mathison
GavinWood
From my Suite at the Ramada Plaza Complex on Santa Monica Blvd
Welcome to Hollywood
■ Although Hollywood is a neighborhood in Los Angeles, for some it's more a state-of-mind. "I'm going to Hollywood," say young hopefuls who dream of acting in movies or on television. Indeed, they're going to Los Angeles but probably not to Hollywood itself. Though Hollywood has long represented the glitz and glamour of the film, television, and music industries, most studios have moved away from this quirky district in favor of other LA neighborhoods, like Burbank. Nevertheless, Hollywood still attracts millions of visitors each year who travel there to pay homage to their favorite stars and perhaps even catch a glimpse of a few famous personalities. Sometimes they're lucky! And while, for years, Hollywood had a rather seedy reputation, the town has endeavored to make recent improvements in the areas most visited by tourists, adding a new kind of charm to this interesting neighborhood.
www.gavinwood.us
● Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar ■ When Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne walk the streets of Los Angeles, they create an odd phenomenon. About 95 per cent of the pedestrians pass them without a second look. The other 5 percent go bonkers. Warne and Tendulkar are two of the world's best cricket players, which means little to most Americans. But to those with roots in India, Australia or other cricketloving countries, spotting them on the street is like a serendipitous encounter with Michael Jordan, Pope Francis or Taylor Swift. Warne and Tendulkar will be the captains of opposing teams of retired cricketers for the exhibition Nov. 14 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The lineups read like a Who's Who of cricket over the past 25 years, including superstars like Brian Lara of the West Indies, Wasim Akram of Pakistan and Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka. To Americans, cricket can conjure images of sleepy English afternoons. "Everyone has this preconceived idea of what cricket is," Warne said. "A five-day Test match, no result, like yawn." But the game at Dodgers Stadium will be so-called Twenty20 cricket, a fast-paced, three-hour form of the game that has been growing in popularity. "It's a great version of the game," Warne said. "It's got the skill, the athleticism. It's the rock 'n' roll version - you've got no time to think."
George Barris dead at 89
■ George Barris, customizer of iconic Hollywood cars for television shows and movies over four decades, died in his Los Angeles home. He was 89 years old. "Sorry to have to post that my father, legendary kustom car king George Barris, has moved to the bigger garage in the sky. He passed on peacefully in his sleep at 2:45 am," his son Brett said in a private post on Facebook. "He lived his life they way he wanted till the end. He would want everyone to celebrate the passion he had for life and for what he created for all to enjoy." Barris is credited with designing iconic automobiles for television shows including the Munster Koach, the Green Hornet's car, the jalopy from The Beverly Hillbillies and K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider. But he's arguably best known for creating the Batmobile from the 1960s Batman series, a car he adapted from a Futura concept acquired from the Ford Motor Company. "If you'll remember that pow, bang, wow is going out, throughout his whole script, that gives you an idea of what I had to contend with," Barris said in 2010. "I said, well, if you're going to make these exciting sounds and all this thing that comes up, I'm going to do the same thing to the car." Barris was born in Chicago in 1925, moving to Southern California after the death of his parents several years later. He and his brother began fixing up cars in their teen years, opening the Barris Brothers Custom Shop in Los Angeles in 1945. After Barris formed the hobby club Kustoms of America, Hollywood noticed his work, with producers commissioning him a car for the movie High School Confidential in 1958. In the early-'60s, Barris opened the shop in North Hollywood out of which he worked until his death. Barris made a public appearance as recently as September at an event in Van Nuys, California, to promote a book based on his work, King of the Kustomizers: The Art of George Barris. ■ If you are considering a move to Los Angeles or just coming over for a 'Hollywood Holiday' then I have got a special deal for you. We would love to see you at the Ramada Plaza Hotel and Suites, 8585 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood. I have secured a terrific holiday deal for readers of the Melbourne Observer. Please mention 'Melbourne Observer' when you book and you will receive the 'Special Rate of the Day'. Please contact: Joanna at info@ramadaweho.com