At a recent Sixties Appreciation Society meeting [1993 - photographs from that night are on this page], member Ron McIntosh brought along a Herald Sun article on Ralph Baker. Ralph Baker I hear you ask, who's he? Well if you were a child of the 60's you would most certainly remember "DEADLY EARNEST", who hosted "Awful Movies with Deadly Earnest". Ralph hosted the show from the mid Sixties, till the early Seventies on the then Channel 0 now 10. Each State of Australia had a Deadly Earnest hosting B grade horror and Sci-Fi flicks on a late night time slot. A tremendous cult following emerged in a very short time, catching Ralph and the management of the channel completely by surprise, from kids, to university students, to show business people who delighted in his irreverance and complete disregard for the accepted behaviour of a television performer. He had tremendous latitude under the guise of Deadly, to say and do whatever he liked, not to say he didn't get into bother with management on occasions. Kids would go to bed at their usual hour, setting their alarm clocks to wake in time to see the grotesque figure of Deadly relectantly emerge from his creaking upright coffin, with a face even a mother couldn't love.

The featured film was secondary in viewers minds, tuning in to hear and see Deadly. Scripts were scant with Ralph adlibbing, and with his tongue planted firmly in his cheek, let the Deadly persona take over. He would read out letters and poems from the vast amount of mail which would arrive every week from viewers who got in on the act by writing poems for and about Deadly, which after being read out were quickly dispatched to the mouth of Igor. Igor, an off screen monster who came to life with the use of sound effects, who after having gorged himself on all the mail sent in, would give out an almighty belch.

This particular sound effect was achieved by filling up one of the members from the audio department with Coca-Cola, bouncing him around for a while, and then, putting him in front of a microphone to record the inevitable burp which came.

Contact was made with Ralph, and his consent was given to do an interview with him. Ron McIntosh, Chris Keating and myself made our way to see him at his home in one of the outer suburbs of Melbourne. After the greetings and introductions were made, we were treated to a look at the memorabilia that Ralph had kept. Wonderful photos of Deadly Earnest, media clippings and a great shot on the set of the legendary Go Show, which featured in the photo, host Ian Turpie and resident band for the programme, The Strangers. Ralph pointed himself out and told us that he was the floor manager for the Go Show, and prior to that, floor managed the Teen music show "Kommotion" for the station.

Amazingly he was also the original floor manager for the "Uptight" programme screened every Saturday morning for four hours and hosted by Ross D. Wylie. The amount of Aussie Pop and Rock talent that Ralph came into contact with during his involvement with these shows was immense, he saw artists who were and would go on to become the cream of Australian music during the 60's, and many who faded very quickly into oblivion.

Ralph was born in Melbourne, he started having elocution lessons at the age of twelve, through his early teens he M C'eed Eistedfods and other functions. He studied music, and sat for exams for The London College Of Music, stopping one short of achieving his ALCM. He got involved with amateur theatre, and not long after took a job at GTV Channel 9 at the same time as Philp Brady.

Ralph hoped to get into something on camera, but this never eventuated. After leaving 9 and with an eighteen month break in between, took a job in the props department at Channel 0, who had at that time not started transmission.

Ralph commented that it was a very exciting time to be right there at the start. Ralph continues, "For the big opening show, I was called upon at rehearsal to read out scripted material because actor Keith Michel was not present on the set at the time, so well was I able to read the piece that I was complimented by the director and others standing around the studio." It was this incident that Ralph realized later that management had kept him in mind, knowing he could perform without hesitation.

The first Christmas that the channel was operating, all the celebrities conducted a review written by Johnny Howson, well known now as John Michael Howson. Ralph was asked to perform in it, which was only a one off thing for him. From this review evolved the very popular children's programme, "The Magic Circle Club". John Michael Howson performed as Fifi bear. When the Magic Circle Club finished on channel 0 it moved to Channel 2 under the new name Adventure Island.

Ralph was still involved in staging at the station when the character Deadly Earnest was first talked about. Another show apart from the ones mentioned earlier that he worked on was the "Showcase" talent quest programme hosted by Gordon Boyd. This show was floor managed by Ralph after the previous manager walked out after a disagreement.

How did the character Deadly Earnest come about, and did you mould yourself on anybody or thing you had seen before?
No not really, I had seen footage of the Sydney Deadly Earnest. To my knowledge he was the first Deadly to be on tv. A lot of things happened by accident, the first thing I did was to write a rough sort of script. We then went to the wardrobe department to look at what I could wear. We came up with an old funeral directors type outift. I put it all on with the frock coat, hat and so forth, and I then said I can't have my hands like this it looks too good. So they pulled out a pair of grey gloves. I put the one on, and then the other. I then remarked you've given me two right hand gloves, hang on I'll keep them. Once you put a wrong glove on your it immediately looks grotesque, that how "Claw" another part of the Deadly Earnest persona came about.

Yes I remember watching the show back then and Deadly trying to control Claw from ripping letters out of his other hand, and also at times trying to grasp Deadly around the throat. Apart from the performance on tv you used to make appearances else where didn't you?
Yes, things such as fetes, the Dendy theatre, where I hosted the showing of the original film, Phantom Of The Opera starring Lon Chaney. It was at this appearance that I first realized the impact that the Deadly character was making. People were queued up for a couple of blocks outside the theatre, not so much to see the film, but me. Although I had a script written I didn't have to use it. after the first line was spoken someone would call out something and I would respond, then somebody else would say something. So it went on from there.

Did you get dressed up and do the makeup at the various venues?
No, generally I'd get dressed at the makeup department at the station, and depending on where it was that I was appearing I was drive, or I would drive myself.

That must have been interesting, imagine pulling up at the lights and looking across at this creature behind the wheel beside you.
(Much laughter) Yes it was a lot of fun to see the different reactions.

How long did it take to apply the makeup?
About an hour. On one occasion I went to a charity football match between the original cast of the tribal rock musical Hair, and the Channel 0 staff in a coffin. I was going to drive almost there, then hop in the coffin. But once the coffin was in the back of the vehicle you couldn't open the lid, so I had to get in and reamain there and be retrieved after arriving.

When people write fan letters there's always for and against, were people writing in saying "You horrible disgusting thing, how dare you?"
It was hard to tell whether it was abusive mail or not. So many people were getting a great buzz in writing into me and sometimes having it read out. It was great, hardly any script was required. We just used what was sent in. It surprised all at the channel at my popularity.

Did you have a fan club?
No, not really, not an official one anyway.

It was more a cult following wasn't it?
Oh yes, very much so. I'm always amazed when Deadly is mentioned now, how many people do remember it so well. It's very clear in their minds.

Did you always stay with the same look, or did you alter certain things?
Not intentionally. Over the six year period that I was on, different make up artists would work on me. Each giving a slight variation to what we first started out with. The six years I portrayed Deadly wasn't consistent, it would stop, then a new batch of films would arrive and my hosting would re-commence. I also hosted the Twilight Zone, or the Outer Limits. I can't quite remember which. I would appear at the start of the film to introduce it, in the middle break and at the end. We taped two shows every fortnight.

Were you ever in any other tv shows as yourself, or another character?
I did a few things in the Magic Circle Club whilst I was still performing as Deadly.

You did appear in a episode of Goodmorning Mr Doubleday. The main character and another actor ended up taking shelter in a haunted house which is where the character Deadly Earnest came in.
Yes, I can remember doing something like that, it was a terrible show. Ron Way was the producer. He later left to produce a new cop show called The Long Arm for the station. Iwas then asked to step in as assistance producer, and for the last six episodes I was the producer. There was a similar programme in America from which Good Morning Doubleday was taken. A gentleman name Rob Weekes and I re-wrote parts of the scripts for the last six episodes which were abysmal. To try and salvage something that had very little substance and direction, it was never going to be a rating programme for the channel.

This was at a time when the Australian Broadcasting Commission wanted television stations to screen more Australian produced shows. Channel Seven had shows like Homicide, My Names McGooley, You Can't See Around Corners, and Nine had Hunter.

Did you work on any other shows as the producer?
Yes, I worked on the Roy Hampson Show. I was producer on that for some time. I also worked with Jimmy Hannan on a variety programme which was used as a fill in from cross overs to live telecasts of the horse racing. Back then we had no budget, but you wre expected to get interesting people on the show and talented people to perform. We heavily relied on PR firms to ring and say they had someone wanting to come on and make an appearance. Television was fun in the early days. It was hard work, but it was fun. Over a period of time the money men won. There was always that conflict between art and money.

Getting back to your character Deadly Earnest, how was the name chosen?
To my knowledge the first Deadly appeared in Sydney. I don't know whether the spelling was the same. We used the spelling EARNEST so that when I made appearances and said, such and such was going to happen, that I was 'deadly earnest', thus giving it a double intended meaning.

Was there any attempt by the station to merchandise the character of Deadly, buttons, T shirts, dolls etc. ?
No there wasn't, I feel they missed out badly, it was something they never pursued, or gave much thought to. We were all a bit taken aback by my popularity, there wasn't a great deal of merchandising done by any of the channels for any of their characters, except for things like Gerry Gee dolls, a few game shows, and Humphrey Bear. There was always plenty of publicity in tv magazines, and the channels always had. photographs of their celebrities to send out to fans.

How were your live appearances organized, were they arranged through you or the station?
They were always arranged through the channel, people or organizations would make approaches to have Deadly perform somewhere, so time, place and. payment amounts were worked out. For me personally the monies I received were quite rewarding for those days.

Personal appearances were far more lucrative than the on screen performances. A few years into the character I approached management for a pay rise, they were delighted with the ratings especially for its late time slot. At that time I was only receiving 12 dollars for doing the Deadly character. When I refused to tape any more shows there was much running around and discussion by the producer who was in a real flap. Management did eventually come forth with a little more money, but I never got paid anymore than about 25 dollars.

Did the station look after you in other ways ?
They always gave me support from the start of my appearances at the various venues. I recall once being on holiday in Gippsland, and a call came through to me to appear in Ballarat at their Begonia festival. I had to drive from Gippsland to Moorabbin airport, to then be flown to Ballarat to do the job and then make the trip back again. No doubt the Ballarat organizers would have paid for all that.

Was there ever a time you got into trouble or had. problems with these appearances, either with things or people?
On one occasion at a Drive In appearance a guy threw tomatoes at me. It took place in the snack bar area. Because there wasn't a stage or raised area I stood on a chair. Not long after commencing, the first tomato arrived, smack on my hat. I took it in good humour, but when a second one arrived I said, "Who did that?", and it was like a parting of the Red Sea. The crowd moved either side to expose the culprit at the back with a tomato in his hand. Seeing him, I lept of the chair and went for him.

What was his reaction to that ?
Well there was going to be a fight, but the Drive In staff grabbed me and ushered me away.

He must have come armed with that amunition, you couldn't buy tomatoes at a drive in.
Ah yes of course, he was just a trouble maker.

Channel 0's Deadly Ernest - ghoulish host of popular AWEFUL MOVIES - found himself in deadly serious trouble with a pack of louts during a promotion at a Melbourne drive-in theatre. Deadly - alias genial Ralph Baker - was booked to do promotions in which he appeared in his sinister Deadly Ernest garb during midnight horror shows at two suburban theatres. His appearance at Moorabbin drive-in theatre passed off without incident and Ralph then went to Brooklyn drive-in where he appeared on stage in the cafeteria.

At first, when louts started throwing paper, Ralph attempted to pass it off as a joke and threatened the louts in Deadly Ernest manner. Then an ice-cream sailed from the back of the cafeteria, followed by another - right on target. Ralph dropped the Deadly Ernest pose and told the louts in all seriousness that he would deal with the next person who threw an ice-cream. Whack, the third one was on target too! Ralph jumped from the stage, plunged through the crowd and seized the ringleader and proceeded to give him a well-deserved shaking. But the rest of the pack closed in and Ralph looked to be in real danger from kicks and punches from behind. Only prompt action by the manager and attendants who rescued Ralph from the pack saved him from serious injury.

"He doesn't know how lucky he is," one patron told TV WEEK. "It was very courageous of him to tackle these louts head-on like that but this sort of scum hunts in packs and if they'd got him on the ground they could have kicked him to death!," Ralph says he's none the worse for it but hopes there will be better security at future appearances.

Apart from fetes, Drive Ins and the Dendy Theatre, what other venues did you make appearances at, because we noticed in Go-Set magazines in their gig guide section that you would be named as host?
It probably wasn't the real Deadly Earnest though.

Yes of course the character must have spawned a lot of mimicks.
There has been for many years Channel Seven's Royal Childrens Hospital Appeal. They've had Deadly Earnest somewhere every year collecting money, say at a bowling alley, and its never been me. (Laughter)

When did you make your final appearance as Deadly?
Oh goodness, I haven't the faintest idea, not now I real1y wouldn't know.

When the character Deadly Earnest was finished in 1972, did you make the decision to stop or were there other circumstances that led to Deadly's demise?
No, it wasn't a case of me making any decision on the matter. The station had run out of programmes to screen. I was hosting towards the end "The Outer Limits". All the available horror and sci-fi movies had been shown over the years, and they were unable to get any more.

What was the situation for you now that you were no longer required to be Deadly?
Well I was still working at the channel, writing on air copy for the station. I remained. there for about two years, then I left and got right away from the business for four years and had. my own cleaning business. A total change. Then after that I became a puppeteer with the Gardner Puppet Theatre, and. have been for the last fifteen years. I also have my own, the Pinnacle Puppet Theatre, which is separate, for doing childrens birthday parties and so on. Laurie Gardner and I go to various schools and do puppet shows. These are not only done for the amusement of the kids, but also as an educational programme.

Is there a little Deadly puppet?
No I never made one of those.

Did you ever appear in any commercials on tv?
Unfortunately not, we could have had some fun doing them.

When we do the puppet shows, we explain and show the kids how we work them, even to the extent of taking our hand out of the puppet and putting it back in again. But interestingly enough they still will only talk to the puppet, it is very real to them.

It happens quite a lot with adults too. Agro would be the perfect example, when he is on tv, people actually would talk to him, and then think, what am I doing I'm talking to a puppet.

It was just the same in the early days, when I was working on Graham Kennedy's I.M.T. show. You would have Gerry Gee and Ron Blaskett, you would say hello to Ron, but would have a longer conversation with Gerry.

Do you still keep in touch with a lot of the people you worked with or met through your jobs at Channel 0 and 9?
No not really. Channel 0 had a 25 year reunion back in '89, and I caught up with a lot of people, some I hadn't seen for many years. And. then not long after that, a lot of the Channel 9 people got together to, and of course thirty years had past since 9 had begun in Melbourne.

It must be wonderful to meet again and reminisce about those times.
Yes it is. You are constantly being reminded, and reminding about people, events, and places that you can recall and vice-versa.

Of course as a kid I remember watching the live shows when tv first started. Looking back at them now they were very raw and unsophisticated, but they were ours, and remembered with great affection. And back in a time when the pace of life was slower, and life for many quieter and peaceful than the hassles and pressures associated with living in today's society.

Going back to the days of Deadly Earnest, were you able to keep any of the costume you wore, the hat or cape or anything like that?
No I haven't got any of those things actually. They were all things that came out of channel 0' s props department, and were returned at the finish of Deadly's run. I have got a shirt, not an original, I had this one made, the only thing that I've got that's original are my teeth. (Much Laughter)

Which are probably the things most worth having. (More Laughter)

Ralph, you mentioned earlier that two shows were taped every fortnight. Was there any material that you did during taping that you thought had better not go to air, and was subsequently edited?
Everything that was taped went to air. I have the only footage of Deadly on tape to my knowledge.

The thing that was great back then for the camera crew, and lighting and sound and everybody, was that it was so different to anything else they were normally involved with. (Yes no doubt they looked forward to doing it?) The bit of video tape I have, there's one shot that comes up that close on the camera, it is absolutely hideous and something you would never do. But you could do all those things, and enjoy doing it because it was so different to what was normal.

I did one, one night. I often used to have a TV Week or something and look through it, and. then say something like, what else is on. Or you might as well watch this rubbish because there's nothing better on the other stations, this is as good as anything. Well on this particular night, I said what are you watching this for? The tennis is on, on Channel 2. Next Monday I got hauled over the coals by the general manager, although he hadn't been watching it himself. A friend of his rang him up and said, "very grateful to that host of yours on Friday night". Of course the manager said why, and was told, "I'd forgotten all about the tennis until he mentioned it", so the boss wasn't too happy with me pushing another channels programme. But that was exactly what Deadly did.

Have you ever been asked to perform again as Deadly?
We were looking at doing it a couple of years ago, in fact I've got a pilot that we actually did on video. We did a pilot and it was presented to all three of the commercial channels who all expressed interest in it, but it was at a time when a couple were in receivership and the money just wasn't available for new projects.

Although I think they took the wrong view of it, because it would have been something that was very cheap to produce, compared to anything else they could do, and we would have supplied them with a total package. We were going to do it at Dracula's, so there was your set already, and we also would have been able to use the cast of Dracula's for little bits and pieces. And for personal appearances I could have taken the whole cast out with me and done shows. The possibilities were enormous. I think the audience that would be available for a start were all those who were kids when Deadly was on who are going to be dying to show it to their kids, and of course older people. The potential audience was huge.

Yes, as you've said Ralph, things were very unstable in the television industry. But hopefully things will finally right themselves, giving the opportunity for people like yourself who have got a lot to offer, not only for nostalgic purposes, but for wonderful entertainment which in many areas of tv is sadly lacking.

With many of the tv shows you were personaly involved with as floor manager like the GO show, Showcase, and Uptight, were there instances where long term friedships were formed with the artists you came into contact with?
No, not really. I saw many of course right at the beginning of their careers. John Farnham I met when he was sixteen, and Johnny Young I met when he came from Adelaide to host the GO show after Ian Turpie left. There's many more too numerous to mention. We didn't meet socially, mainly always in the confines of the studio.

In respect to the Sixties Appreciation Society Ralph, we are going to stage a 60's Happening on Saturday August 7th [1993], at the Parkview Hotel in North Fitzroy, commencing at 6pm through to about 3am. Seven bands will perform along with a light show, GoGo dancers, a fashion parade, and videos. So we would like to extend an invitation to you to appear as Deadly, many of the audience will remember him, and for the younger members to experience an original cult figure of the Sixties. Many I know would like a photograph to be taken with you, which we will arrange, and autograph hunters would also be well catered. for.

To all members, friends and Sixties Scene readers we are pleased to announce that Ralph has kindly consented to appear at the Happening. [thanks to Ron for the photos from that night]

SO BE THERE, BUT BEWARE, BECAUSE DEADLY IS COMING TO GIVE YOU A SCARE.