NEW VOICES FROM 1ZB

New Zealand Listener, Volume 7, Issue 180, 4 December 1942, Page 9

NEW VOICES FROM 1ZB

NCREASING experience before the microphone has convinced Ernest Blair, new 1ZB announcer, that once the essential difference between stage and broadcusting technique is realised, dramatic experience can be of the utmoct value. And Ernest Blair has been closely connected with Auckland’s amateur stage since thc early 1920’s, and has produced and acted in more plays than he can remember. In spite of this, he is no off-stage actor, and doesn’t, as he puts it, wear his art on his sleeve. Another new voice from 1ZB is provided by Gil Cooke, who has returned to the microphone after a long and severe illness. Listeners may remember | him from the days when Michael Hutt, © Neddo, and his associates enjoyed themselves in a 1ZB Breakfast Session. His brightness has certainly not tusted in disuse. Don Macgregor, another new announcer, hides his Scottish ancestry behind a BBC-~ voice. Before he set foot in the 1ZB studio, his voice was heard frequently from 1ZB in characterisations and commercial recordings. Norman Watkinson is the fourth recruit to 1ZB’s announcing staff. This young man attributes his drawling, easy-on-the-ears intonation to the fact that he was born in Shropshire. In his youth, he intended to go on the stage, but ill-health forced him to give up the idea and go abroad. He was. for some time in the West Indies, and has spent a number of years in French Pacific colonies. The new copy supervisor at 4ZB is George Bezar, who travelled from Auckland to his present job via England and the Middle East as a member of the 2nd N.Z.E.F. They say that a copy supervisor needs to combine the ability | of diplomat and journalist with the patience of Job. But they make ’em tough in the N.Z.E.F., and George Bezar | is confident that he will be able to stand = the strain.