Melody Iliffe

Melody Joy Iliffe (née Welsh, 10 April 1938 - 21 September 2017) was an Australian Logie Award-winning news presenter.[1][2][3]

Melody Joy Iliffe
Born
Melody Joy Welsh

(1938-04-10)10 April 1938
Bundaberg, Queensland
Died21 September 2017(2017-09-21) (aged 79)
Brisbane, Queensland
Years active1964 to 2009
Known forBecoming the first woman in Australia to read a prime time television news bulletin
TelevisionQTQ-9 News
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1964; died 2005)​
AwardsLogie Award (1965)

Career

Iliffe is best remembered for becoming the first woman to co-anchor a prime time news bulletin on Australian television after she was chosen to read the 6pm news alongside Don Seccombe on QTQ-9 in Brisbane in 1964.[1] Welsh had previously been a production assistant on the station's children's program The Channel Niners hosted by "Captain" Jim Iliffe.[1]

She married Jim Iliffe in 1964.[1] They had three children, including David who is now a media veteran himself and a long serving breakfast presenter on ABC Southern Queensland in Toowoomba.[4]

Although she kept a low profile after her marriage, Melody Iliffe regularly appeared in television commercials for Brisbane-based electrical good retailer Chandlers throughout the 1980's.[5] She also co-hosted QTQ-9's 25th anniversary of Queensland television broadcast in 1984 and appeared at the station's 50th anniversary celebration in 2009.[5][3]

Jim Iliffe died in 2005.[6] Melody Illife died on 21 September 2017.[7] A funeral service was held for her at St Andrew's Anglican Church in Indooroopilly on 29 September 2017.[7] At the time of her death, she had eight grandchildren.[7]

Logie Award

The achievement of being the first female newsreader in Australia was recognised at the Logie Awards of 1965 when Welsh was presented with a special Logie Award for "acknowledged ability, in a man's domain."[2]

References
  1. Willmington, Phil (23 September 2017). "Ladies first". Nine News Queensland. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  2. Knox, David (29 September 2017). "Vale: Melody Iliffe". TV Tonight. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  3. Bayley, Andrew (24 September 2017). "Obituary: Melody Iliffe". Television.AU. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  4. "David Illiffe". ABC Southern Queensland. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2023. After growing up in a "broadcasting household" (his parents Jim and Melody were Queensland television identities in the sixties and seventies) the odds were heavily against David choosing any other profession.
  5. Cutts, Adrian (27 September 2017). "Vale: Melody Iliffe". Kuttsywood's Couch. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  6. "Radio Veteran, Jim Iliffe, Dies". radioinfo. 28 June 2005. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  7. "ILIFFE, Melody Joy (nee Welsh)". My Tributes. News Corp Australia. 27 September 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
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