Groundbreaking News Anchor Penny Spence Has Died

Trailblazing Australian TV presenter Penny Spence died earlier this month at the age of 83.

Spence rose to fame in the late 1960s as one of the first women to read television news on Channel Nine in Australia, where she presented the afternoon news for TCN9 in New South Wales.

Her death was confirmed by the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), which shared in a statement, “We’re saddened to hear of the passing of Penny Spence, a trailblazer in Australian television. Spence was part of a pioneering group of women who were the first women to read television news in Australia.”

Her cause of death was not disclosed.

The Melbourne native initially pursued an acting career, but following the end of her two-year course at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), pivoted to TV presenting, according to Television.au. She went on to audition for a TV presenting role at TCN9, Channel Nine’s broadcasting station, where she fronted a women’s current affairs program and presented the weather before going on to present the afternoon bulletin for Channel 9 in New South Wales while Brian Henderson anchored the evening edition. She became a familiar face in NSW, and was awarded a Logie for Most Popular Female Personality in NSW in 1969 and 1972.

“Penny was a trailblazer for women in our industry, laying the path for countless women in television,” Fiona Dear, Nine’s Director of News and Current Affairs, said in tribute to Spence, per Express. “With two Logies awarded to her, she was one of the country’s most high profile news presenters for decades, and was one of the icons who made 9News ‘still the one’. Her legacy lives on in TV newsrooms across the country and we send our condolences to her family.”

Following her time at Channel Nine, Spence continued her TV career behind the camera heading children’s programming at the Nine Network. She produced programs including Falcon Island, Danny’s Egg, and Colour In The Creek, and also served as an executive producer at the European Broadcasting Union’s children’s unit. Outside of her TV work, she also worked on several films, including Shipmates (1987), Sovereign Hill (1990), Hinkler: The Aviator (1990), and The Water Trolley (1988).

Spence was the first wife of legendary Channel Nine musical director Geoff Harvey, with whom she shared two daughters, Eugenie and Charlotte.