‘Send all my loving to you’: Former Young Talent Time host dies
The family of a much-loved Australian singer, musician and television host has announced he has died aged 79.
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Young’s family said in a statement that the television and music industry figure died following a short illness with pancreatic cancer.
Young Talent Time launched the careers of many high-profile Australian entertainers and became one of the country’s most enduring television programs running for 18 years.
It was a launching pad for stars including Tina Arena, Dannii Minogue, Debra Byrne and Jamie Redfern – who went on to tour the US with his mentor, Liberace, while Young also wrote hits for other Australian artists, including Russell Morris’ The Real Thing.
Every episode on Young Talent Time ended with Young and the cast performing the same closing number: the Beatles track All My Loving, one of his signature songs.
“Johnny was the creator, host and producer of the much-loved television show Young Talent Time,” his family said in a statement.
“He wrote and produced many iconic hit songs, including The Real Thing and Smiley.”
Young leaves behind his wife Marisha, sister Cornelia, daughters Anna and Fleur, seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. He also had a son, Craig, who had died.
His family asked for privacy and said the details of a memorial service would be announced soon.
Born in the Netherlands in 1947, Young moved to Australia as a child and first found fame as a pop singer in the 1960s, before turning his attention to television and songwriting.
He was inducted into the TV Week Logies Hall of Fame and the ARIA Hall of Fame, also working through a successful career in radio as an announcer at 2CH before moving to the Central Coast, where he became a familiar voice on 2GO.
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