Oscar Whitbread

Oscar Ralph Whitbread (26 November 1929 – 16 May 2016) was an English-Australian pioneering producer and director who worked extensively in television and film.

Biography Whitbread who was born in the United Kingdom, moved to Australia in the late 1940s. and started his career with the inception of television in that country in 1956, firstly at the ABC, where he served as the Head of Drama, before switching to the same position with the Seven Network.

He was responsible for numerous successful series including Bellbird, The Flying Doctors and the miniseries Power Without Glory. Whitbread was the senior executive producer at Crawford Productions and also worked in England for the BBC, Thames Television, Granada Television, and London Weekend Television. During the 1970s, he worked as a theatre media studies lecturer, at Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, New South Wales.

Personal life Whitbread was married to Corinne Kerby. He died on 16 May 2016 after a long illness. Beauty and the Beast (1964) (ice skating TV special) On Approval (1964) (TV movie) – producer Corruption in the Palace of Justice (1964) (TV movie) – producer The Winds of Green Monday (1965) (TV movie) – producer, director Otherwise Engaged (1965) (TV movie) – producer Duet on Wednesday (1965) (television play) – producer Photo Finish (1965) (TV movie) – producer Plain Jane (1966) (TV movie) – producer Slow Poison (1967) (TV movie) – producer Love and War (1967) (TV movie) – producer The Shifting Heart (1968) (TV movie) – producer Delta (Australian TV series) (1969) (TV series) – director Dynasty (1969) (TV series) – director Bellbird (1970–77) (TV series) – producer A Family at War (1970) (TV series) – director The Man Who Shot the Albatross (1972) (TV movie) Frank and Francesca (1973) (TV series) Marion (1974) (miniseries) – producer, director And the Big Men Fly (1974) (TV series) – producer Rush (1975) (TV series) – producer, director The Professional Touch (1976) (television play) Trial of Ned Kelly (1977) (TV movie) Power Without Glory (1976) (mini series) – producer Catspaw (1978) (TV series) The Truckies (1978) (TV series) Burn the Butterflies (1979) (TV movie) A Wild Ass of a Man (1980) (TV movie) Lucinda Brayford (1980) (mini series) I Can Jump Puddles (1980) Locusts and Wild Honey (1980) (TV series) All the Green Year (1981) (mini series) Outbreak of Love (1981) (mini series) – producer, director The Young Wife (1984) (mini series) – producer, director Golden Pennies (1985) (mini series) – producer, director The Flying Doctors (1985) (mini series) – producer The Flying Doctors (1986) (TV series) – producer, director Studio 86 (1986) (TV series) – producer, director Acropolis Now (1989) (TV series) – producer The Power, The Passion (1989) (TV series) – producer Ratbag Hero (1991) (mini series) – producer, director Cluedo (1990–92) (TV series) – producer, director Bush Patrol (1996) (TV series) – producer The Balanced Particle Freeway (1997) (TV movie) – producer