Francis Michael Warrick OAM (1944 – 11 May 2021) was an Australian journalist and newsreader and TV game show host.[1]

Frank Warrick
Born
Francis Michael Warrick

1944
Australia
Died11 May 2021 (aged 76)
Occupation(s)News presenter, journalist, former DJ
Employer(s)Seven Network, Nine Network
Known forNewsreader at Seven Brisbane

Biography

edit

Warrick began his career in radio as a disc jockey in Toowoomba in 1963 with AM radio station 4GR,[2][3] and in 1965 he was the first voice heard on the new Gold Coast AM radio station 4GG.[4] Warrick joined Seven Brisbane as a newsreader in 1976 and served in the position until his retirement in 2001, including a role as co-presenter of 13 years opposite Kay McGrath. In 1991, prison escapee Harold John McSweeney surrendered to Warrick and a television helicopter crew on the Queensland Darling Downs, purportedly to avoid being shot by the Queensland Police.[5] Warrick hosted the game show The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime in 1999—before the program was taken over by sports journalist Sandy Roberts. Warrick was also a regular host on the Australian documentary series The World Around Us. In 1994, Warrick was awarded the OAM for "services to the media, to environment, and to the community".[6]

He died aged 76 on 11 May 2021 following a five-year battle with dementia.[7]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Stalwart Queensland TV newsreader Frank Warrick dies". www.abc.net.au. 11 May 2021.
  2. ^ "Obituary: Frank Warrick – Television.AU". Television.AU – The History of Australian Television. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  3. ^ "4GR 90 Years – Queensland's First Commercial Station". Radiotoday.com.au. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  4. ^ "4GG Gold Coast - The Showbiz Radio Station of Australia". Radioheritage.net. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  5. ^ "The Day They Smashed a Truck Through the Prison Gates (1991)".
  6. ^ "Awards list". honours.pmc.gov.au. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  7. ^ Garcia, Jocelyn (11 May 2021). "Tributes flow for Queensland newsreader Frank Warrick, dead at 76". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 11 May 2021.