Peter Sinclair (broadcaster)

Sinclair pictured during production of University Challenge in 1989

Peter Charles Sinclair ONZM (15 November 1938 – 8 August 2001) was an Australian-born New Zealand television personality and radio host.

Biography

Born in Sydney, Australia, Sinclair rose to fame in the 1960s and early 1970s firstly on New Zealand radio and then as host of Let's Go, Happen Inn and C'mon, New Zealand's primary rock music television shows of the time.

In the late 1970s he reinvented his place in New Zealand television as presenter and quizmaster on University Challenge and Mastermind, two popular television quiz shows which ran until the late 1980s. Sinclair's measured on-screen personality was suited to these kinds of interactive game shows. As a quizmaster he made the phrase "I've started, so I'll finish..." (originally coined by Magnus Magnusson on the British version of Mastermind), a New Zealand cultural cliché. Sinclair also hosted the 1982 Mastermind International contest in New Zealand.

Sinclair was also a noted writer, penning a novel called The Frontman and writing regular columns for the New Zealand Herald newspaper. In later years he was a radio announcer from 1986, for Radio Avon, in Christchurch, the city he grew up in, which became C93FM, before moving on to Easy Listening i98FM and finally Classic Hits FM, hosting the popular Lovesongs till Midnight programme. While still in Christchurch he helped raise money to build a Police Kiosk in Cathedral Square, for people who needed a safe place to go at all times of the day in case of emergencies. In his later years, he developed a passion for computers and was one of the first New Zealanders to become actively involved with the Internet. He wrote widely on internet issues, software developments and content.

In the 2001 Queen's Birthday Honours, Sinclair was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to broadcasting.

Sinclair died in Auckland on 8 August 2001, from leukaemia, aged 62.

See also

• List of New Zealand television personalities

External links

• NZ Herald obituary
• Magazine ad from the 80s featuring Peter Sinclair
• Photograph of Peter Sinclair standing outside Alicat, Jervois Road, Auckland. Auckland Museum