Wendy Skelcher
- Writer
Wendy Skelcher (birth names Maureen Wendy Helen) was an aspiring writer, newly arrived in Australia from her birthplace in Solihull, England when she saw the first series of Aunty Jack. The creators - Graeme Bond and Rory O'Donoghue - had targeted Wollongong in more than one sketch and Wendy - having just arrived there - strongly identified with the sarcasm directed at the industrial town in which she had landed. The contrast between green and pleasant features of her home town and the grubby, ugly facades of Wollongong was stark. Having just joined a local writer's group she began writing short skits she titled "What's On In Wollongong", found out how to approach the creators of the show, and sent off the first seven pages on May 1st, 1973. Three days later she received a letter encouraging her to submit more of her work and a telegram from Graeme Bond arrived on 26th saying "Great scripts right [sic] more".
Of the subsequent scripts - from which several sketches were made - the one which will remain the most memorable was Wendy's creation of a pale, skinny, balding, journalist who, in the first scene she wrote, gets out of bed - fully clothed - while addressing the audience (possibly breaking 'the fourth wall' for the very first time?) and shaves his face. He continues to speak to the audience via his reflection, nicks his face several times, and sticks small bits of toilet paper to his face to staunch the blood. This character became known as Norman Gunston. Garry McDonald, in his guise as Gunston, fleshed out the character, added his inimitable style of interviewing which brought him great acclaim as he dumbfounded international celebrities such as Paul McCartney, Mohammed Ali, Sally Struthers, Cheech & Chong, and Boy George with his apparent stupidity (much as Sacha Baron Cohen did, decades later, as Ali G and Borat). Most famously, however, Gunston was on the steps of Parliament House in Canberra on the momentous day that Gough Whitlam and his government was dismissed by John Kerr, the Governor General of Australia on November 11, 1975.
Wendy went on to submit another four collections of sketches to The Aunty Jack Show in which she named a new cocktail called "The Strip Grinder" and a new perfume named "Eau de Port Kembla" in "honour" of the BHP steelworks which dominated - and copiously polluted - the Wollongong skyline.
Of the subsequent scripts - from which several sketches were made - the one which will remain the most memorable was Wendy's creation of a pale, skinny, balding, journalist who, in the first scene she wrote, gets out of bed - fully clothed - while addressing the audience (possibly breaking 'the fourth wall' for the very first time?) and shaves his face. He continues to speak to the audience via his reflection, nicks his face several times, and sticks small bits of toilet paper to his face to staunch the blood. This character became known as Norman Gunston. Garry McDonald, in his guise as Gunston, fleshed out the character, added his inimitable style of interviewing which brought him great acclaim as he dumbfounded international celebrities such as Paul McCartney, Mohammed Ali, Sally Struthers, Cheech & Chong, and Boy George with his apparent stupidity (much as Sacha Baron Cohen did, decades later, as Ali G and Borat). Most famously, however, Gunston was on the steps of Parliament House in Canberra on the momentous day that Gough Whitlam and his government was dismissed by John Kerr, the Governor General of Australia on November 11, 1975.
Wendy went on to submit another four collections of sketches to The Aunty Jack Show in which she named a new cocktail called "The Strip Grinder" and a new perfume named "Eau de Port Kembla" in "honour" of the BHP steelworks which dominated - and copiously polluted - the Wollongong skyline.