Australia has had only a few television horror hosts, with five of them known as "Deadly Earnest". The first Deadly character was performed by Roland Barnes. The idea of the character was developed by Max Bostock of the Western Australian television station - TVW-7 in 1959. The idea for a Deadly was picked up by four other states from 1966 to 1978. Barnes was born in Lancashire, United Kingdom in 1926. After arriving in Australia, he spent time in Queensland in the 1950's and later in Western Australia, where he played Charlie Davenport in the stage show "Annie Get Your Gun", and "The Teahouse of the August Moon" at the Playhouse, Perth; as well as other productions Barnes - old gentleman on the left The show may have run from 16 October 1959 until 28 December 1960; and have also been advertised as "Wednesday Movie; screening a mix of different genre movies. The movies shown were: 21 October 1959 "The Sun Sets at Dawn" (1950) 28 October 1959 "The Shanghai Gesture" 04 November 1959 "Journey Into Fear" (1942) 11 November 1959 "Step Lively" (1944) 18 November 1959 "Sword of Venus" (1953) 25 November 1959 "Captain Scarface" 02 December 1959 "Scandal In Paris" 09 December 1959 Replaced with "These Were Hits" (musical show) 16 December 1959 Replaced with "These Were Hits" (musical show) 23 December 1959 "Holiday Affair" (1947) 31 December 1959 "Wetbacks" (1956) 06 January 1960 "Lured" (1947) 13 January 1960 "Macao" (1947) 20 January 1960 "Top Hat" 27 January 1960 "Double Dynamite" 03 February 1960 "The Twisted Road" 10 February 1960 "You'll Find Out" 17 February 1960 "Vacation in Reno" 24 February 1960 "Bedlam" 02 March 1960 Replaced with "The Sammy Davis Show" 09 March 1960 "Tomorrow Is Too Late" 16 March 1960 "Roughshod" (1948) 23 March 1960 Replaced with "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial" 30 March 1960 "Amazing Mr. Hammer" 06 April 1960 "Allegheny Uprising" 13 April 1960 "Valley of the Sun" (1942) 20 April 1960 "New Orleans" (1947) 27 April 1960 Replaced with "The Divided Union" (a documentary on South Africa) 04 May 1960 "Born to be Bad" (1950) 11 May 1960 "Days of Glory" (1943) 18 May 1960 "Main Street to Broadway" (1953) 25 May 1960 "Affair With A Stranger" (1953) 01 June 1960 Replaced with "The Sammy Davis Show" 08 June 1960 Replaced with "Playhouse 90" 15 June 1960 "Carnegie Hall" 22 June 1960 "The Racket" (1951) 29 June 1960 "The Locket" (1946) 06 July 1960 Replaced with "Women in Love" (documentary) 13 July 1960 Replaced with "Women in Love" (documentary) 20 July 1960 "Mobs Incorporated" 27 July 1960 "Indiscretion of an American Wife" 03 August 1960 "The Big Steal" 10 August 1960 "The Great Rupert" 17 August 1960 "The Return of the Bad Men" 24 August 1960 Title not known 31 August 1960 Replaced with "Playhouse 90" 07 September 1960 Title not known 14 September 1960 Replaced with "Australian Playhouse" 21 September 1960 Title not known 28 September 1960 "The Awful Truth" 05 October 1960 "Where Danger Lives" 12 October 1960 Replaced with "Farnborough Air Show" 19 October 1960 "A Woman's Secret" 26 October 1960 "Intermezzo" (1939) 02 November 1960 "The Yellow Canary" * Roland Barnes returned to the UK around this time but the Wednesday Movie continues, whether hosted or not is unknown. 09 November 1960 "Brothers in the Saddle" 16 November 1960 "Honeymoon" 23 November 1960 "Trail Secret" 30 November 1960 "The Impatient Years" (1944) 07 December 1960 "Sands of Iwo Jima" 14 December 1960 "Hunt the Man Down" 28 December 1960 "Gambling House" (1951) He returned to the United Kingdom and was married on 31 December 1960. He died in 2014. Portrait of the "Deadly Earnest" by Dave Dunlap.

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