JUST 19 years of age, blonde. petite and on top of the world... that pretty accurately describes "Dunedin's Diana Barrymore," Miss Winnie Dowie, winner of the recent Diana Barrymore Radio Talent Quest conducted over Station 4ZB. It wasn't by any means an easy win for her, because she was one of the first competitors, and consequently had nothing to give her any idea of how it all sounded over the air. But perhaps, as Miss Dowie, herself explained it, "The fact that I am a telephone operator in the Dunedin Exchange may have had something to do with it." Probably a more decided factor was that she had had previous radio experience, having been a regular performer with Peter's Junior Radio Players in the early days of 4ZB, and has in addition won scholarships at the Dunedin Competitions as well as being a member of the Dunedin Repertory Society. With a cheque for the first prize of £10 securely tucked away in her purse, Miss Dowis headed straight for—no, not a hat shop Or even the dressmaker's—but straight for the Post Office Savings Bank to add this windfall to her National Savings Account. The above photograph shows Miss Dowie receiving her cheque from Bert Bidgood, manager of the Empire Theatre, while Don Donaldson, 4ZB announcer, looks on.

New Zealand Listener, Volume 8, Issue 204, 21 May 1943, Page 19

JUST 19 years of age, blonde. petite and on top of the world... that pretty accurately describes "Dunedin's Diana Barrymore," Miss Winnie Dowie, winner of the recent Diana Barrymore Radio Talent Quest conducted over Station 4ZB. It wasn't by any means an easy win for her, because she was one of the first competitors, and consequently had nothing to give her any idea of how it all sounded over the air. But perhaps, as Miss Dowie, herself explained it, "The fact that I am a telephone operator in the Dunedin Exchange may have had something to do with it." Probably a more decided factor was that she had had previous radio experience, having been a regular performer with Peter's Junior Radio Players in the early days of 4ZB, and has in addition won scholarships at the Dunedin Competitions as well as being a member of the Dunedin Repertory Society. With a cheque for the first prize of £10 securely tucked away in her purse, Miss Dowis headed straight for—no, not a hat shop Or even the dressmaker's—but straight for the Post Office Savings Bank to add this windfall to her National Savings Account. The above photograph shows Miss Dowie receiving her cheque from Bert Bidgood, manager of the Empire Theatre, while Don Donaldson, 4ZB announcer, looks on.