John Blackman

Biography Blackman grew up in the Melbourne suburb of Mount Waverley, where he attended Syndal Primary School until 1959 and completed year 10 at Syndal Technical School in 1963. He was an avid supporter of the Fitzroy Football Club, now the Brisbane Lions. On leaving school (and home) at 16, he worked in a succession of occupations: customs clerk, cash van salesman for a cigarette distributor, sales representative for a perfume company, and spruiker in the Myer Bargain Basement. At the age of 22, he decided on a career in radio.

Media work He worked in radio from 1969 but was probably best known for his 28-year stint as announcer and character voice-over for the Nine Network's Hey Hey It's Saturday, Australia's longest-running variety show. One of his best-known characters was a stick puppet known as "Dickie Knee".

In 1969, he joined 2GN Goulburn as an announcer, newsreader, copywriter, salesman, and record librarian.

In 2004, he joined Triple M Adelaide and was cohost of The John Blackman & Jane Reilly Breakfast Show until December 2007.

Other television shows Blackman appeared on and announced for include Blankety Blanks, Personality Squares, The Paul Hogan Show, The Daryl Somers Tonight Show, Holiday Island, Family Feud and many others. Blackman was interviewed on ABC's Talking Heads in 2006.

Accusations of racism In 2009, Blackman returned as part of the Hey Hey It's Saturday reunion specials to reprise his voice-over role. Despite respectable ratings, the show's contract was not renewed for 2011. During the second 2009 comeback episode, a Red Faces act called "the Jackson Jive" (a Jackson 5 parody) caused outrage, especially in the UK and USA, after the act dressed up in blackface to perform the Jackson 5 hit "Can You Feel It" in a jive style. The show, and Blackman, had a longstanding history of mocking people of colour, which was demonstrated in a March 2021 video compilation by John Patterson, which has received 165,000 views as of 2023. Blackman also had a four-decade feud with Kamahl, which was instigated in part by Blackman and Daryl Somers' persistent bullying on Hey Hey, including racist jokes. While Somers eventually made a full apology regarding his past actions after initially being criticised for invoking cancel culture to defend his actions, Blackman doubled down upon his past actions: "Goodness me[,] Kamahl, 37 years and you're still 'humiliated'." Blackman's racist jokes and humiliations were numerous, but a particularly egregious example was when he surprised Kamahl with white powder being slammed into his face. Blackman joked at the time that this made him a "real white man".

According to the MML COO, Adam Lang: “He's a very respected and highly regarded broadcaster but his style of broadcasting, while excellent, wasn't working on the MAGIC format.”

Significantly, in the third radio survey for 2016, (released a few days later) Blackman actually increased his Melbourne audience from 1.5% to 2.2% and his cumulative audience to 19,000 listeners (2,000 more than the station average).

Corporate work Blackman was a corporate host and compere for over 800 business award nights, conferences and social occasions. He also regularly voiced radio and television advertisements.

Writing Blackman authored several books, including Aussie Slang, Aussie Gags (1998) and More Aussie Gags, Don't Come the Raw Prawn, Best of Aussie Slang, Aussie Slang Dictionary, and the Dickie Knee Bumper Comic Book. They were released through Pan Macmillan Australia.

Personal life Blackman was married twice.

Blackman was also diagnosed with an aggressive form of skin cancer in 2019, resulting in his jaw being removed. The cancer reappeared in 2022, with Blackman undergoing extensive surgery to remove the top of his skull and the skin from his scalp.

Blackman died from a heart attack on 4 June 2024, at the age of 76.

Community and charity work Blackman was a member of the Patrons Council of the Epilepsy Foundation of Victoria. and an active Australia Day (Victoria) ambassador. He was also a past committee member and past vice-chairman of Variety – the Children's Charity, most recently an honorary member.

Famous characters Dickie Knee – a polystyrene head with black hair and a blue cap on a stick Alfred Desk Mike The Angel – a small angelic creature made from an old Barbie doll and superimposed on the screen Doctor Ben Dover Charlie Who – a Chinese character The Giant The Man from Jupiter Mrs Macgillicuddy – a hideous old hag with a raspy voice Norman Neumann – a boom microphone with a moustache, which is in fact a Sennheiser MKH-816-P48 Sammy Sennheiser – replacement for Norman Baby Kangaroos – sounds a bit like the Angel

Radio career

2GN Morning Show (1969) 2CA Morning Show (1970) 3AW Evening Show (1972) 3AK Breakfast Show (1975) 2UE Night Show (1977) 2GB Breakfast (1977 [one week]) 3AK Breakfast Show (1979) 3AW Breakfast Show (1981–1986) 3UZ Breakfast Show (1987–1990) 3AK Breakfast Show (1997–2000) Triple M Adelaide Breakfast Show (2005–2007) 3GG Mornings (2009–2014) 3AW Afternoon replacement for Denis Walter (2011) Magic 1278 and Magic 882 Breakfast (2015–2016)

Television career

Hey Hey It's Saturday (1971–99, 2009–10) (Nine Network) Family Feud – announcer (1978-1984) (Nine Network) Daytime newsreader (TCN 9) The Penthouse Club (HSV 7) The Paul Hogan Show (GTV 9) Daryl & Ossie Show (ATV 10) Personality Squares (ATV 10) Daryl Somers Tonight Show (GTV 9) Blankety Blanks (ATV 10) Holiday Island (ATV 10) Prisoner (ATV 10) Safeway New Faces judge (GTV 9) World's Craziest Inventions (GTV 9) Toon Time (111 Hits)