Daryl Somers
| Daryl Paul Somers | |
|---|---|
| Born |
6 August 1951 Geelong, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation | Television host Musician |
| Years active | 1971–present |
| Known for |
Hey Hey It's Saturday (1971–99, 2009–10) Dancing with the Stars (2004–07) |
| Spouse(s) | Julie da Costa |
| Awards | 3 Gold Logies (1983, 1986, 1989) |
Daryl Paul Somers, OAM (born 6 August 1951, Geelong, Victoria) is an Australian television personality and musician, and a triple Gold Logie award-winner. He rose to national fame as the host and executive producer of the long-running comedy-variety program Hey Hey It's Saturday and continued his television celebrity and status as host of the live-performance program Dancing with the Stars.
Somers was educated at the Christian Brothers College, St. Kilda. A drummer, he joined a group playing music in the style of Herb Alpert which began under the name "Pasquale and his Mexican Rhythm". Under the name "Somerset", the group appeared on GTV-9's talent-quest programme New Faces, winning their way to the finals, only to be beaten by John Williamson.
Somers started professional TV work on 14 July 1971, taking over as the presenter of an afternoon children's program called Cartoon Corner, which was previously Skeeter's Cartoon Corner, hosted by James Kemsley (who went on to draw the famous Ginger Meggs comic strip for 23 years). Daryl's first words were, "Hi, I'm Daryl Somers, Skeeter will no longer be with us and now it's time for a cartoon."
His audition consisted of him doing an impersonation of Mr Magoo. Daryl was accepted and was paid $75 a week to do the show.
Later that year, on 9 October 1971, Hey Hey It's Saturday started. Somers at first co-hosted with footballer Peter McKenna, but eight weeks later, his co-host became the pink hand-puppet Ossie Ostrich, which was operated by former In Melbourne Tonight staff writer Ernie Carroll. McKenna continued to appear on the show for some time. Originally created as a Saturday morning children's cartoon show, the program gradually expanded in both size and scope. Soon, additional cast members joined, including booth announcer John Blackman, who also voiced many (unseen) characters, and, later, co-host Jacki MacDonald.
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