The man known in media circles as the “father” of 60 Minutes, Gerald Stone, has died aged 87.
A journalist since the early 1960s in Australia, he is most fondly remembered as the producer who launched the iconic Channel Nine current affairs show, alongside the likes of Ian Leslie, Ray Martin and George Negus.
“Gerald occupies a lofty pedestal in Nine’s history and a profound place in our hearts,’ said Nine’s CEO, Hugh Marks in a statement.
“He was famously of course the ‘father’ and founder of 60 Minutes in Australia in 1979 – which under his remarkable leadership became a juggernaut of Australian television,’ said Mr Marks.
“With its great story telling and high production values 60 Minutes changed the way we watched television, and launched scores of now celebrated careers.
“First amongst them Ray Martin, George Negus and Ian Leslie, quickly followed by, a then largely unknown, Jana Wendt. Gerald transformed them into household names – and they became his lifelong friends – with countless others to follow.”
Mr Marks said Gerald crafted 60 Minutes into “a tour de force which four decades later remains an ongoing testament to Gerald’s capacity to produce great content through his sheer good instincts about stories, the people he chose to tell them, his gimlet eye for angles and detail and his uncanny ability to make it so relatable to a huge audience”.
“There’s been an army of tremendously talented people in Australian television since its arrival in 1956, but none with more impact than Gerald Stone.”
Born in Ohio, his raw American accent never left him, nor his warmth, humility and charm, said Mr Marks.
“But he was also a feisty character who gave as good as he got, especially in the odd colourful disagreement over programming decisions with Kerry Packer – a feat in itself.
“And Gerald generously always rejoiced in the success of others – in recent years shedding tears when 60 Minutes was inducted into the Logies Hall of Fame.”
His own tremendous body of work was so accurately recognised in the 2015 Australia Day awards when Gerald received an AM for ‘significant service to print and broadcast media as a journalist, television producer and author’.
“On behalf of everyone at Nine, past and present, I have conveyed our profound condolences on Gerald’s passing to his wife Irene – herself a long-time friend of the Network through her outstanding involvement in the delivery of World Series Cricket and what followed in our sustained coverage over so many years,” said Mr Marks.
Gerald is survived by Irene, his two children, Klay and Jennifer, and two grandchildren Louis and Gina.
“To salute all that Gerald Stone meant at Nine and to allow his colleagues and friends to celebrate his remarkable life, we propose to arrange a memorial event – appropriately at our old Willoughby headquarters – in the near future. We’ll advise you all about details soon, naturally the attendance will be limited with current restrictions but we will all be able to watch it on a screen.”
