Sir Frank Packer
|
Sir Frank Packer KBE |
|
|---|---|
| Born |
Douglas Frank Hewson Packer 3 December 1906 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Died | 1 May 1974 (aged 67) Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Cause of death | cancer pneumonia & heart failure |
| Resting place | South Head Cemetery |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Education | Sydney Church of England Grammar School |
| Occupation | Media proprietor |
| Spouse(s) |
Gretel Bullmore (m. 1934–60) Florence Vincent, nee Porges (m. 1964–74) |
| Children |
Clyde Packer (eldest son) Kerry Packer (youngest son) |
| Parent(s) |
R.C. Packer (father) Ethel Maude, née Hewson (mother) |
| Relatives | James Packer (grandson) |
Sir Douglas Frank Hewson Packer, KBE (3 December 1906 – 1 May 1974), was an Australian media proprietor who controlled Australian Consolidated Press and the Nine Network. He was a patriarch of the Packer family.
Frank Packer was born in Kings Cross, in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, to Ethel Maude Packer (née Hewson; 1878–1947) and Robert Clyde Packer (1879–1934), who started the family's association with the media as a journalist in New South Wales. His father, R. C. Packer, became editor of The Sunday Times and was a founder of Smith's Weekly and The Daily Guardian, which was published by Smith's Newspaper Ltd.
He attended Wahroonga Grammar School and Sydney Church of England Grammar School; however he did not sit for the Intermediate Certificate.
In 1923, Packer became a cadet journalist on his father's paper, The Daily Guardian. Four years later, he was a director of the company. In 1933, Packer started The Australian Women's Weekly and then transformed The Daily Telegraph into one of Australia's leading newspapers.
Packer inherited his media interests on his father's death in 1934. In 1936, he joined with Ted Theodore's Sydney Newspapers and Associated Newspapers to form Australian Consolidated Press. He was chairman of ACP from 1936 until 1974.
When television was introduced to Australia in 1956, Packer, along with the other major newspaper publishers (Fairfax, HWT and David Syme), became a significant television network shareholder under the federal government's "dual formula", which allowed each capital city to have two commercial networks and one ABC. He launched the first Australian station to broadcast a regular schedule, TCN in Sydney, which became the nucleus of the Nine Network.
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