Where are they now? Denise Drysdale at 66

At 66, the ever-bubbly and effervescent TV star of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s – Denise Drysdale – spoke to us at Frank & Earnest, letting us in on the passions that drive her these days.  

Never one to do things by halves, this time last year Denise moved out of her family home of many years in Melbourne’s north, sold 99 per cent of her worldly possessions and drove up the coast to find a new lifestyle for herself.

At the time, Denise, told A Current Affair, she was getting older and didn’t need all the stuff she had: “I’ll get rid of it so I can be free and easy like the wind,” she said then. Of course she did take a few treasured items such as her Gold Logies and her beloved dog, Buddy – a Pomeranian cross Chihuahua.

Massive sea change 
It was a huge move for the well-known TV star. She’s now living on Hope Island, near Sanctuary Cove on the Gold Coast and has bought some land in the nearby hinterland where she is now building her dream home – a beautiful eco house. Denise says she enjoys the laid back lifestyle and beautiful weather of Queensland so much, she’s been telling everyone about it.

“My eldest son, Pete and his partner Lauren, have moved up here and my youngest son is moving up at the end of October,” she tells me.

“The Queensland government should be paying me money – I am promoting this place so much to everyone,” she laughs.

75 shows so far this year
Denise has had such a varied and amazing career in TV and the entertainment world, that when I ask her what she feels are some of her best achievements, she is as plain and direct as ever: “Have I achieved anything?  Well, I’ve worked in the business that I love and I’ve done 75 shows so far this year. At 66, I think that’s quite an achievement!”

I ask her again what have been the highlights of her TV and public career and she laughs, saying it’s too hard to pick one thing: “I loved all of it – everything I’ve done has been different. Ernie and I had the best relationship (on The Ernie Sigley Show on Channel Nine in the ’70s) and that was great. But you know, even today, when I get a new enquiry about a job, I get off the phone and I go ‘Yes’ that’s great!”

Does she still enjoy it that much I ask?  “God yes,” she replies. “The first laugh and I’m off…”  

Family matters
Denise has two sons – Peter who’s now 35 and Rob who’s 33. She was married for 10 years to actor, Chris Milne, but her marriage ended in 1990. She has always spoken highly of her ex-husband, being quoted as saying then: “We never had any dramas. We had the Clayton’s divorce.”

And: “I really wouldn’t have had the career I’ve had, were it not for Chris helping out with the kids… Chris’s help was enormous.”

Mostly surrounded by boys,  Denise has a grandson now as well who’s nearly four, called Bodhi.

She laughs and says: “He’s a lunatic – I don’t know where he gets it from!”

Her other passions are cooking and reading: “I just finished reading The Water Diviner and I loved it. I always like to read the book first and then see the movie. But I read everything – biographies, fiction – everything.”

One of the best-known TV stars of her time, Denise Drysdale has had an extraordinary career. Take a look at some of her amazing achievements:

• Living in Port Melbourne, Denise went to dancing classes at May Downs and by the age of six, she’d won many dancing competitions.
• At 10 years of age, she began her television career with  GTV9 in Melbourne, working in the junior ballet on the Tarax Show.
• She went on to win the annual Girl of the Year Award with Everybody’s (magazine) in 1964.
• At age seventeen, Denise joined the new show Kommotion as a go-go girl, becoming Melbourne’s first go-go dancer.
• Denise was invited to tour Australia with Ray Brown & The Whispers. She was then offered a recording contract and appeared in 26 episodes of the ABC’s Dig We Must.
• Denise was invited to perform for the troops in Vietnam for three weeks in late 1967, along with Patti Newton.  In 1969, she went to the Far East to entertain American troops.
• In 1974, she became Ernie Sigley’s barrel girl on The Ernie Sigley Show. It was here she gained the nickname Ding Dong.
• In 1975, Drysdale won the TV Week Gold Logie for the Most Popular Female Personality on Australian TV. She won her second Gold Logie the following year. In the same period, she also won consecutive Silver Logies.
• Over the next few years, Drysdale appeared regularly on many television shows including:  The Norman Gunston Show, Celebrity Squares, Young Talent Time, Countdown, Division 4, Homicide and Bellbird.
• Denise also worked in regional television in Victoria including guest appearances on BTV Ballarat and hosting a morning magazine show on GLV-8 in the 1980s.
• As an actress, she has appeared in the movies, The Last of the Knucklemen, Snapshot and Blowing Hot and Cold.
• On stage, she has appeared in many plays and musicals including: Salad Days (musical) Grease, The Barry Crocker Show, Two Gentlemen of Verona and Hello, Dolly! in 1994. She also spent two years in Sydney appearing on television shows Weekend Magazine and Beauty and the Beast.
• In 1989, Drysdale again teamed up with Ernie Sigley to host In Melbourne Today, and in 1991 began a Sydney version of the show In Sydney Today. The two programs later merged to a single program: Ernie And Denise.
• Also in 1989 Denise was asked to fill in on Hey Hey it’s Saturday due to Jacki McDonald being ill and subsequently leaving. She stayed with the show for over a year.
• In 1998, Drysdale joined the Seven Network to present her own show for the first time, simply called Denise. This program lasted four seasons.
• In 2005, Channel Nine chose Denise as one of the most 50 important people on television for the last 50 years.
• In 2008, Drysdale released an album entitled What A Wonderful World. The album contains a remake of the single Hey Paula. Originally a duet with Ernie Sigley, the new version features Mark Trevorrow.
• In 2010, Drysdale joined Network Ten’s new morning show The Circle as one of the hosts. She remained on the show for two seasons, leaving at the end of the 2011 season.

Awards

• Denise has won two Gold Logie awards for Most Popular Female personality on  Australian television.
• In January 2008, Drysdale was awarded the ‘Australia Day Citizen of the Year’ award by Baw Baw Shire.
• In 1998, as part of Melbourne’s Moomba Festival. Denise was crowned Moomba Monarch.