Hector Crawford
| Hector Crawford | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Hector William Crawford 14 August 1913 Fitzroy, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Died | 11 March 1991 (aged 77) Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Occupation | music conductor and director, radio and television producer |
| Known for | Broadcast Exchange of Australia, Crawford Productions |
Hector William Crawford CBE AO (14 August 1913 – 11 March 1991) was an Australian entrepreneur, conductor and media mogul, best known for his radio and television production firms. He and his sister Dorothy Crawford founded Crawford Productions, which was responsible for many iconic programs and initiated the careers of a number of notable Australian actors and entertainers. His influence on the Australian entertainment industry was immense and enduring, and one obituary described him as "one of the best-known and most respected names in the history of Australian entertainment".
Hector William Crawford was born in Melbourne in 1913. His parents were William Henry Crawford, a commercial traveller, and Charlotte, née Turner, a contralto and organist. He studied at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and later conducted the orchestra there. In 1940 he became the musical and recording director of Broadcast Exchange of Australia, a radio broadcasting house, and its managing director in 1942.
In 1945 he and his sister Dorothy Crawford (1911–1988) founded Crawford Productions. Hector managed music, administration and sales, while Dorothy attended to script-editing and casting. They produced musical radio programs in Melbourne such as Music for the People, in which concerts at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, often conducted by Hector, were attended by large crowds and broadcast live on radio. The concept developed, and culminated in the concert given by The Seekers at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in 1967, which attracted a record-breaking crowd of 200,000 people.
Other shows included Opera for the People, The Melba Story (which starred the then unknown soprano Glenda Raymond, who shared the role with Patricia Kennedy),The Amazing Oscar Hammerstein, and The Blue Danube. The singing competition Mobil Quest first brought singers such as Joan Sutherland, June Bronhill and Donald Smith to public notice.
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