Australia is mourning the death of veteran actor Charles Bud Tingwell who passed away today at the age of 86. The star of radio, stage, television and screen lost a dignified battle with cancer in a Melbourne hospital.

Always upbeat, he was still working from his hospital bed up until a few days ago and it was in that hospital bed that he listened (audio) to Marty Fields paying tribute to him on a 3AW segment earlier this week. Bud loved radio and was an avid talkback listener, however radio and Bud have a much richer history than a lovely old man with his ear tuned to his transistor.

Bud got his start in radio and we need to thank his father for that, as this piece from his blog says: Looking back, I suppose the cinema, or the 'pictures', as we probably called it, was very, very important to us, or to me. I loved the magic of what movies could do. I loved film and radio. Dad said, "Look, why don't you apply for this job?" "Cadet announcer / panel operator wanted for leading Sydney commercial radio station, 2CH." So I applied and they offered me the job, making me the youngest radio announcer in Australia.

So as you can see, radio is where it all started for Bud, drop by his blog and pay tribute to the man that brought joy and entertainment to generations of Australians. Bud's Blog here