John Blackman, who was the voice of the popular Australian television program Hey, Hey It’s Saturday for over 40 years, died at the age 76.
He had been struggling with cancer for a couple of years.
In 2018, a massive 12-hour surgery was carried out on him to remove a portion of his jaw and remove a growth on his mouth.
In 2022, he had to undergo another major surgery, which involved the removal of the top portion of his skull.
According to Peter Ford, an entertainment reporter for the Seven Network, Blackman had been an extraordinary man who had been fighting against cancer for many years.
After starting out in radio in 1969, Blackman eventually found fame as the voice of Australia’s longest-running variety program, Hey, Hey It’s Saturday.
The show, which started in 1971, lasted until 1999. Although he rarely appeared on screen, Blackman had a significant role in the program, adding off-script comments to each episode and frequently chatting with the host, Daryl Somers.
Apart from his long-running gig on Hey, Hey., Blackman also worked as a writer and appeared on various television shows, including The Paul Hogan Show and Blankety Blanks.
In recent years, he became involved in a feud with another former member of the show, Kamahl.
The Malaysian-born singer, who was a frequent guest on the program, said that he felt humiliated by the racist skits that had been shown on the show.