Peter Cundall

Infobox Actor
name = Peter Cundall


birthdate = Birth date and age|1927|04|1|df=yes
location = Manchester, England
GBR
occupation = Soldier, horticulturalist, television presenter, conservationist
yearsactive = 1969-present
spouse = Tina

Peter Cundall AM (born 1 April 1927 in Manchester, England) is a horticulturalist and television personality in Australia. He currently lives in Tasmania's Tamar Valley, and until the age of 81 continued to be a presenter of the ABC TV program "Gardening Australia". His last show aired on 26 July 2008. He will continue his radio show from Tasmania, his appearances at the Gardening Australia Expos and continue work on his autobiography.

Amongst the gardeners of Australia, Peter Cundall has become a household name. The TV show and magazine "Gardening Australia" Peter represents has a devoted audience of both younger and older gardeners and admirers. At "Gardening Australia Live" shows (gardening exhibitions in Australian capital cities) Peter Cundall's presentations attract many viewers. This is all the more surprising given that he has no formal horticultural or landscape training. In an issue of "Reader's Digest", he came 8th in a poll of the 100 most trusted Australians (he beaten by The Wiggles and Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark).

Military career

Peter Cundall was born in Manchester on 1 April 1927, one of six children. He was sent to a Catholic school, but never believed the dogma he was taught. He left school at age 12. Near the end of World War II, Cundall joined the British Army's Parachute Regiment, and he was stationed in various countries in post-war Europe (France, Austria, Germany, Italy and Yugoslavia) and the Middle East (Egypt and Israel).

In 1946, Cundall was enticed across the border into Yugoslavia by a beautiful girl named Angela, and was arrested by Marshal Tito's forces after she disappeared. He was sentenced (without trial) to four years imprisonment for espionage, but was released into Trieste, Italy after six months in solitary confinement in a prison in Ljubljana, after pressure from the British government led to his release.

Eager to hasten his emigration to Australia, Cundall enlisted in the Australian Army in 1950. In interviews he has stated that he naïvely believed he was enlisting for a non-combat role as a librarian. However, he was immediately posted to Korea, and once again saw action overseas as a machine gunner during the Korean War.

Political career

Cundall was a Tasmanian Senate candidate for the Communist Party of Australia, and he claims to have recorded the lowest number of votes in a parliamentary election (he did not even vote for himself). He also supports many left wing political and environmental groups by speaking at rallies and events. He is a keen environmentalist. He was the Chairman of the Tasmanian Wilderness Society during the battle to stop the building of the Franklin Dam. He has been campaigning for three years against the construction of Gunn's pulp mill in the Tamar Valley.

Gardening career

After leaving the Australian Army in 1956, Cundall moved to Tasmania, where he started his own gardening and landscaping business.

In 1967, he started a gardening talkback program on a Launceston radio station.

In 1969, he began presenting a studio-based garden advice program for Australia's national broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Commission. This show, after several name and format changes, became one of the longest running, most iconic shows in Australia - Gardening Australia.

In 1974 he studied organic gardening and landscaping overseas, thanks to a Churchill Fellowship.

On March 31, 2007, an episode of Gardening Australia, was dedicated to Peter's 80th birthday, which showed many of his famous clips episodes and his catchphrase,"That's Your Bloomin' Lot". Later that year [Dec 13, 2007 http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/13/2118452.htm] Peter and the ABC announced that the 2008 series would be his last. On June 18, 2008 he filmed his last Gardening Australia episode at the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens. His last appearance was broadcast on ABC TV on July 26, 2008.

Cundall's long service on Gardening Australia has made him into a major figure in Australian gardening as well as turning him into a person who is known of by most Australians, even those who are not gardeners.

Awards

In 2006, Cundall was named Australian Humanist of the Year.

In 2007, Cundall was made a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day Honours list for services to the environment and horticulture.

The Ronnie Johns Half Hour

Comedian, Dan Ilic, impersonates Cundall on the sketch comedy program The Ronnie Johns Half Hour. Ilic's Cundall finds himself in problem situations and uses his know-how of manure and compost to solve them. A similar characterisation was made several years earlier by Shaun Micallef.

External links and references

* [http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s731070.htm Peter Cundall on Gardening Australia] (ABC TV website)
* [http://www.abc.net.au/tv/enoughrope/transcripts/s1391016.htm Interview transcript: Peter Cundall] "Enough Rope with Andrew Denton", ABC TV, 13 June 2005
* [http://www.abc.net.au/tv/talkingheads/ Interview on ABC television's "Talking Heads" March 2007]
*Denise Gadd, "Perennial bloomer", The Age, 5 July 2008.

References