Ernie Sigley turns 'Adelaide Tonight' into an institution and creates local legends

Ernie Sigley as featured by TV Week in 1974.

Ernie Sigley’s tenure on the Adelaide Tonight top-rating show in the 1960s and 1970s was a catalyst for his later national television career but also for young local talents, such as Ian Fairweather, Anne Wills and Glenys O’Brien (later Sigley’s wife), who became household legends in their own city.

Sigley's career began in 1952 as a turntable operator on 3DB Melbourne breakfast radio and made his TV debut as host of Teenage Mailbag on HSV7 in 1957. Shortly after, he went to London, gaining some work experience at BBC followed by three tears with Radio Luxembourg under the name “Ernie Williams”.

Returning to Australia, Sigley was host of an early version of Wheel of Fortune and brought his larrikin little-battler style to being compere of Adelaide Tonight (1959-73) that became of four-nights-a-week variety show (with its own ballet) on NWS9.

Sigley moved to Melbourne in 1974 to host of the national Nine Network variety show, The Ernie Sigley Show. He won the TV Week gold logie for most popular personality on Australian television in 1975.

Sigley’s program was abruptly axed in 1976 after an off-air outburst by Sigley, directed at station owner Kerry Packer and producer Peter Faiman.

Sigley moved to ATV-0 and hosted the early evening variety show Ernie and, in 1979, Saturday Night Live on HSV7 with Mary Hardy.
He was later the original host of the Australian version of the popular game show Wheel of Fortune (1981-84).

After a break from television, Sigley returned in 1989 with Denise Drysdale hosting GTV9’s morning program In Melbourne Today. (In 1974, he had recorded the popular Hey Paula duo with Drysdale.)

Sigley was host of the afternoon program on Melbourne’s 3AW  from 1996 until his retirement in 2008.