Goodie Reeve

Goodie Reeve (1897 – 4 December 1978) was a British-born actor, singer, songwriter, radio host, critic and columnist who found fame in Australia, becoming known as the "First Lady of Sydney Radio".

Early life Reeve was born Lillian Mary Hazlewood in Warwick Garden, London, before becoming a chauffeur in Sydney. and Charles was an active member of the original vigilance committee established to capture Jack the Ripper.

Reeve's paternal grandfather Henry Hazlewood was an actor and theatre manager and her great-grandfather was the playwright Colin Henry Hazlewood.

Reeve's parents regularly toured with their respective acts, sometimes taking Goodie and Bessie with them, including to Australia in 1898 and Southern Africa in 1912. Due to her parents' travels, Reeve did not attend school until age ten, initially sent to a convent by her mother in order to learn French, initially in the supporting role of "Suzette" before transferring to the lead female role of "Victorine". The Times theatre critic wrote that Reeve helped "brightly and daintily with the song and dance side of the entertainment."

Australia

Reeve came to Australia in 1917 for the local production of The Better 'Ole, continuing her role as Victorine. but also having "a quiet charm of her own." Reeve's management capitalised on the connection, billing Goodie as "Famous Ada Reeve's Fascinating Daughter".

Following the end of The Better 'Ole's run in 1919, Reeve spent years appearing on the Tivoli circuit in a solo show, and worked in the publicity department of J. C. Williamson's theatre company.

Writing Reeve also turned her hand to writing in the early 1920s, becoming the theatre critic for, at various times, The Referee and Arrow She also wrote on a range of other topics, including "women's issues" and the future of education in Australia.

Combining her writing and musical skills, Reeve released Auntie Goodie's Bedtime Story Songs in 1924, an album of self-written children's songs, including "Come To My Island", "Poor Mummy's Tired, Every Night", "The Puppy Dogs' Parade", "I Jus' P'tend", and "It's Lullaby".

Reeve initially hosted radio programmes for children, including Children's Session, Chickabiddies although Reeve would eventually hire writers, like Kylie Tennant, who got her big break writing plays for Reeve's children programme, while the iconic Aeroplane Jelly jingle was first sung on one of Reeve's shows.

Proving to be a popular radio host, Reeve branched out to different programme genres, including women's interests, Auntie Goodie's Good Deeds, where listeners would write in with stories of acts of kindness, and entertainment, with Behind the scenes at Hollywood on 2FC, featuring actors, including her own father, speaking about their life and career.

It was in this role that Reeve inadvertently performed the first interview on the ABC, when a visiting actor froze during a talk and Reeve resorted to asking questions to encourage him to speak.

In 1937 Reeve launched the For Men Only programme on 2GB, encouraging men to write to her about their personal issues, including complaints about their wives, loneliness or lack of employment. Reeve read out the letters and responded, providing advice and organising support when required.

However, Reeve's popularity had its drawbacks, including death threats and Christmas cakes containing screws, needles and other objects sent to her. to a listener travelling hundreds of kilometres to personally lecture her on the benefits of using a parrot to rub face creams on ones face. and an emphasis on helping blind ex-serviceman. Reeve had a distant relationship with her mother, who appeared to prefer working to motherhood or family life. although Reeve recorded a tribute to her mother when Ada was the subject of a This is your life episode.

In 1926 Reeve became seriously ill and by 1929 had undergone 20 operations on her head. including her ongoing charity work, in particular for the Royal Society for the Blind.

Marriages Reeve was married three times:

The first to Dr Reg McGillicuddy, a physician and former Australian rules footballer with Victorian Football League (VFL) club University, at St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne, on 5 December 1919. Reeve left the Sydney run of My Lady Frayle, in which she played a leading role, at short notice, to travel to Melbourne to wed McGillicuddy. Reeve was replaced by her understudy Trilby Clark. before McGillicuddy died in Cunnamulla in 1922, aged 30. Reeve was in Sydney visiting her father when she heard of McGillicuddy's illness but he died before Reeve was able to return to Cunnamulla. Up to 400 fans were outside St Mary's, throwing rose petals and mobbing Reeve, leading to near suffocations in the resulting crush and many children screaming in fright. Reeve stopped to kiss and calm many of the children present and momentarily lost her gold plaited headwear.

Reeve later stated that Martin left her within three months of the wedding. was critically ill from injuries sustained from the war, and died less than a month later,

As Reeve married Dawson only three hours after her decree nisi for divorce from her second husband Walter Martin was made absolute on 21 October 1946, there was confusion over the validity of the marriage.

Under Australian law of the time, remarriage was forbidden within 21 days of the granting of a decree nisi. As Dawson's wife, Reeve would be entitled to Dawson's estate and war pension, and the case went before the court which ruled that the marriage was invalid.

Additionally, it was reported in early 1919 that Reeve had become engaged to British humourist Bruce Bairnsfather, and that they would marry when Bairnsfather came to Australia later that year. However, Bairnsfather was too ill to undertake travel. She was survived by her daughter and two grandchildren.