Clive Robertson

Clive Alexander Robertson (28 December 1945 – 1 December 2024) was an Australian radio and television presenter in Sydney who was heard on both the AM and FM bands for over 40 years.

Early life Robertson was born in Katoomba, New South Wales, in 1945. He left school at the age of 16 to begin work on a farm (including his beloved "Massey-Harris tractor"), going on to work for his father (a lawyer), later doing court work, and then moving on to become an electrical apprentice as well as running wires for the Postmaster-General's Department. He later worked on the railways cleaning steam locomotives, and also driving them from time to time, which would fuel a lifelong fascination with them.

Career In 1967 with the advent of talk radio, Robertson began his broadcasting career working at a number of stations in the southwest of Western Australia. In 1972 he joined the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in Sydney, beginning on the radio station 2BL. He moved to Canberra a few months later and worked on 2CY and 2CN. A well known part of his breakfast show on 2BL was his daily tête-à-tête with either Caroline Jones or Margaret Throsby. He also presented the 7 pm television news for the ABC.

In 1980, he worked at 2DAY-FM, but returned to the ABC some months later.

From 1982 to 1988 he was host of the Beauty and the Beast television talk show on Network Ten. Leaving ABC radio, he then moved to the Seven Network where he hosted the news program 11AM, and in 1985 became the host of Newsworld. Robertson took a unique approach to Newsworld, and his later news show on the Nine Network, Robbo's World Tonight:

On-air personality Robertson was known for his wry wit and humorous dealings with talk-back callers, and his outspoken manner. He said that Perth radio station 6IX fired him because he would not use the station's slogan, "Have a happy day".

During his late-night TV news, he once showed the weather forecast displayed on a board. Beside "Brisbane" was the word "pooey".

In his morning programme on ABC Classic FM, he occasionally talked with the show's producer, Ivan Lloyd, the man who selected the music each day. Although Robertson claimed to be untrained in Classical music, his interest and enthusiasm was obvious and he was especially fond of string quartets. In his talk between pieces of music, he sometimes referred to his lawn mowing at home, and revealed that his lawn mower was, naturally, named "Lorna", or "Lawner", but he then explained this should not be confused with "Lorna" who managed the ABC's music library and helped with selecting pieces to be played.

Personal life and death Robertson was married twice. His second marriage was to actress Penny Cook. Both marriages ended in divorce.

Clive Robertson died aged 78 on Sunday, 1 December 2024 after a battle with cancer. His death was not publicly revealed until 12 December.