{"id":6352,"date":"2025-02-13T23:21:16","date_gmt":"2025-02-13T23:21:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=6352"},"modified":"2025-02-13T23:21:16","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T23:21:16","slug":"australian-tv-legend-tony-healey-dies-following-long-illness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=6352","title":{"rendered":"Australian TV legend Tony Healey dies following long illness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Veteran Australian TV star and singer Tony Healey died on Wednesday at a\u00a0Gold Coast<\/span>\u00a0hospital, following a long illness.<\/p>\n

The iconic performer was one of the original singers and dancers on\u00a0Channel Ten<\/span>‘s teen variety show Kommotion from 1965 – 1967, alongside\u00a0Molly Meldrum<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0Denise Drysdale.<\/p>\n

The Melbourne-born performer was said to be in ill health for some time and was aged in his seventies.<\/p>\n

\n

A family friend confirmed the heartbreaking news of Healey’s passing on social media.<\/p>\n

‘Vale Tony. Oh, what fun we have had over the years,’ they began.<\/p>\n

‘Tony was in hospital with seriously reduced heart and kidney function.<\/p>\n

\n
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\"Veteran<\/div>\n
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They continued: ‘He appeared in the early years of the Uptight, Happening and Kommotion TV programs, and was vitally involved in\u00a0Melbourne<\/span>‘s early days of rock-n-roll.<\/p>\n

‘Deepest sympathy to Tony’s family and friends. As Tony would say “Bestest”.’<\/p>\n

Healey got his big break in 1965 when he was cast as a singer and dancer on the iconic Melbourne variety show Kommotion.<\/p>\n

For two years he enthusiastically performed for the cameras for a legion of hip teenagers in the mid-’60s.<\/p>\n

At the time he was so popular that he had his own fan club and thousands of fans watched every week to see him perform alongside Molly Meldrum.<\/p>\n

The show featured the good-looking cast miming along to the biggest pop hits of the ’60s, including songs from Ike and Tina Turner.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, it was axed in 1967 when\u00a0Actors Equity implemented a ban on people miming along to recorded music on TV.<\/p>\n

However, its legacy remains strong and in 2020 the\u00a0Herald Sun\u00a0named it as one of Australia’s greatest music programs ever.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"The<\/div>\n
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Healey subsequently began a career in journalism and was a long-time writer for Go-Set, one of the county’s first music magazines.<\/p>\n

He later became one of Australia’s most renowned travel journalists and frequently documented his trips across the globe.<\/p>\n

Many of Tony’s fans went online to share their heartbreak and condolences.<\/p>\n

‘Still in shock that he passed on. My Condolences to his family and close friends on the Gold Coast on their loss,’ one heartbroken fan wrote.<\/p>\n

‘I loved him on Kommotion. He was my favourite,’ a second person added.<\/p>\n

‘Loved watching Kommotion! Remember him well,’ a third chipped in.<\/p>\n

Tragically, Healey’s only son Eamonn died in 2019.<\/p>\n

He is survived by his wife of 33 years, Belinda.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Veteran Australian TV star and singer Tony Healey died on Wednesday at a\u00a0Gold Coast\u00a0hospital, following a long illness. The iconic performer was one of the original singers and dancers on\u00a0Channel Ten‘s teen variety show Kommotion from 1965 – 1967, alongside\u00a0Molly Meldrum\u00a0and\u00a0Denise Drysdale. The Melbourne-born performer was said to be in ill health for some time…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6353,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"default","_kad_post_title":"default","_kad_post_layout":"default","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"default","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"default","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAustralian TV legend Tony Healey dies following long illness - VM News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=6352\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Australian TV legend Tony Healey dies following long illness - VM News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Veteran Australian TV star and singer Tony Healey died on Wednesday at a\u00a0Gold Coast\u00a0hospital, following a long illness. 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