Richard Marsland

Richard Marsland
Born	5 September 1976 Adelaide, Australia
Died	6 December 2008(2008-12-06) (aged 32) Melbourne, Australia

Richard Kemble Marsland (5 September 1976 – 6 December 2008^[1]) was an Australian comedy writer, actor, comedian and radio personality.

Career

Radio

Marsland started his radio career in Adelaide on the SAFM breakfast show with Greg Fleet, Marty Sheargold and James Brayshaw. He also co-hosted a live, daily morning program AM Adelaide on Channel 7, Adelaide with the multiple-Logie award winning Anne Wills, and then hosted The Late Date Show nationally with Bessie Bardot on 2DayFM, 92.9 and FoxFM.^[2]

Previously, he was on Tough Love with Mick Molloy, in its first year (2004). He also appeared regularly on Triple M's The Shebang with Marty Sheargold and Fifi Box, where he hosted a quiz segment known as "Dick's Box".^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, he became the panel operator on the Triple M radio program Get This. He later started contributing verbally to on-air segments, and soon was essentially regarded as a third co-host, along with Tony Martin and Ed Kavalee. The last show aired on 23 November 2007.^[3]

Marsland also performed on Triple J, posing as Family First member Spencer Penrose on the Restoring the Balance radio show with Tony Moclair.^{[citation needed]}

On 29 January 2008, Richard became anchor/uncredited co-host of Triple M Melbourne's breakfast show Pete & Myf, and took a similar role as he had on Get This.

Television

He contributed to TV shows such as Newstopia with Shaun Micallef, The Glass House, and Rove Live, the latter on which he made several appearances in sketches with Ryan Shelton, including a parody of The Rich List, The Bitch List.^{[citation needed]}

In 2007, Marsland also took up a co-host role on C31 Melbourne's, The Breakfast Show.^[4]

Since October 2007, Marsland was a writer on Shaun Micallef's news satire programme Newstopia which premiered on 10 October on SBS.^[5]

On 20 September 2009, Marsland was listed in the end credits of Rove's 10th Anniversary show under Special Thanks.

Print

He wrote a weekly column for The Sunday Mail in Adelaide.^[6][7]

Film

He appeared as a record company executive in the 2006 Australian comedy film, BoyTown.^[8]

Personal life

Richard used to be a DJ in a Goth nightclub in Adelaide in the 1990s^{[citation needed]} as mentioned a number of times when panelling Get This. He was also a huge fan of "Weird Al" Yankovic as was discovered when Yankovic came to Get This to guest co-host ^[9]

Death

Marsland died in Melbourne, Australia on 6 December 2008.^[10]

On Friday 5 December Marsland was meant to have dinner with former colleague Tony Martin and friends at a pub, but he never showed. About 8.30pm he phoned his mum Alisson, intent on finding out the family's plans the following day. She secretly hoped the questions related to his penchant for surprise visits home to Adelaide.^{[citation needed]} Instead, it was a final phone call home hours before Richard drove to Shiprock Falls in Victoria's Dandenong Ranges, where he was found dead in his car by a park ranger around 10:30am on Saturday. In an interview Mrs Alisson Marsland and her husband Peter, of Gawler River, said their son had suffered depression and attempted suicide about 10 years ago but few people knew. He recovered after extensive counselling and had been "happy and in control" ever since.^{[citation needed]}

But professional and personal difficulties in 2008, including a relationship break-up, wore down his coping mechanisms. He relapsed and reached his lowest ebb in October '08, telling his parents he felt "lonely and alone". She said he was concerned about what his future held in 2009 and talked about going on holidays for a while. They flew to his home in Melbourne to support him, but, never wanting to worry his family, Richard gave no indication of just how low he'd sunk. "He never would have wanted to hurt anyone," Mr Marsland said this week. "This was not an act of selfishness on his behalf, rather a loss to his recurring battle with depression. This was a way for Richard to get release from his pain and nothing else."

Subsequent to his death, Triple M said his role was to have been expanded on the Pete & Myf show in 2009, but friends said he had been told it would be cut back.^[11]

References

1. ^ "Melbourne breakfast radio host found dead". The Sydney Morning Herald. 6 December 2008. http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/tv--radio/triple-m-radio-host-found-dead/2008/12/06/1228257392742.html. Retrieved 2008-12-06. 
2. ^ Date with destiny - The Sydney Morning Herald, 21 Nov 2005
3. ^ Get This: top-rating radio show gets the axe - The Sydney Morning Herald, 3 November 2007
4. ^ Host Profiles - Channel 31
5. ^ Shaun Micallef's Online World Around Him: Newstopia
6. ^ Richard Marsland column - The Sunday Mail, 5 November 2006
7. ^ Richard Marsland's Sunday Mail articles - Champagne Comedy - the late show forum, 8 December 2009
8. ^ imdb entry for BoyTown
9. ^ Get-This Podcast 63,Get-This Podcast 63
10. ^ The Age, Melbourne Breakfast Radio Host Found Dead (6 December 2008)
11. ^ Herald Sun, Richard Marsland's mates claim Triple M had shafted him (9 December 2008)

External links

• Richard Marsland at the Internet Movie Database
• Radio Adelaide interview 29/12/07 with David M. Green.
• A list of Richard Marsland nicknames

Persondata
Name	Marsland, Richard
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	5 September 1976
Place of birth	Adelaide, Australia
Date of death	6 December 2008
Place of death	Melbourne, Australia