Roger Climpson

Climpson was born on 18 October 1932^[1] in Peterborough, England. The son of a butcher, he aimed to become a pilot in the Royal Air Force, until a rugby union accident at the age of 14 punctured his lung, leading him to take up acting instead of flying. He emigrated to Australia in 1949, and met his future wife Claire at a Christmas party in 1952.^[2]

Climpson started his career locally in theatre and radio, appearing in radio series including Caltex Theatre, The General Motors Hour, When a Girl Marries, Life Can Be Beautiful, and Portia Faces Life as well as narrating Tarzan, Kingdom of the Apes. He also appeared in numerous theatre plays at the ABC.

Climpson had guest roles in early television serials like Homicide and You Can't See Round Corners.^[3]

He began his television career at its inception in 1956, working at Channel Nine as an announcer, weatherman and newsreader. He got the job at Nine after asking his friend Brian Henderson to have a word with the head of the network, Bruce Gyngell. During his time at Nine, he hosted two programs of his own: Rendezvous with Roger and The House and Garden Show.^[2]

Climpson left Channel Nine in 1965 after chairman Sir Frank Packer refused to grant him a five-pound pay rise.^[4] He returned to acting in plays such as The Big Killing (1965) in which Filmink described him as "having the time of his life".^[5]

Climpson found himself briefly unemployed and worked at his father's butcher shop, until he was asked to fill a temporary newsreader role at Channel Seven – where he stayed for fifteen years.

In 1977 Climpson presented the afternoon shift on Sydney's 2GB.

In 1977, he began hosting This Is Your Life until returning to newsreading in 1978. In 1982, Climpson retired from television work, but returned to the station in 1989 as anchor of Sydney's Seven News, until a diagnosis of prostate cancer in November 1994 forced his temporary retirement.^[2] Ann Sanders replaced him the following year.

In 1997, he was host of Australia's Most Wanted, which lasted until 1998 when he retired from television. Post-retirement he briefly returned to host a TV documentary in 2015.

Climpson was involved in Christian radio broadcasting between 1995 and 2004, was chairman of the Christian Broadcasting Association, and licensee of Sydney Christian radio station Hope 103.2.

Climpson died in Sydney, New South Wales on 17 September 2025, at the age of 93.^[6]

On Australia Day 2004 he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM).^[7]

Selected credits