The National Film and Sound Archive joins the nation in celebrating the life and career of Smoky Dawson who died yesterday at the age of 94. Over a performing career spanning more than 70 years, he made recordings on 78, LP and CD. He also had his own radio and TV series – even his own comic book. He made his last recording in 2005.
‘Smoky was a great friend of the National Film and Sound Archive,’ Matthew Davies, the NFSA’s Senior Curator of Recorded Sound, said today. ‘He donated many rare recordings and memorabilia to the NFSA, because he understood that they would be taken care of for future generations to be able to experience and enjoy.’
The NFSA holds over 550 items in the Smoky Dawson collection, including more than 80 disc recordings dating from the early 1940s through to 2005, radio and TV shows, scripts, photos, sheet music, and even his old army hat from his days in Borneo with the First Australian Army Entertainment Unit during World War II.
Please see the NFSA’s online catalogue Search the Collection at http://www.nfsa.afc.gov.au/ for more details.
[release from Avviso PR]