Rex Gerald Heading

Rex Heading experienced and achieved a great deal during his lifetime involvement with the entertainment, radio and television industries. He won a string of awards, was Managing Director of Channel 9 in Adelaide, then Director of Production of the 10 Network in Melbourne, and by 1986 was a Director of over 30 companies.

Not to belittle his many achievements, he is perhaps remembered by most, as the creator of one of Australian television's most successful and endearing characters – Humphrey B Bear.

Rex was the third son of three children born to Alice and Leslie Heading. His two brothers were Jack – the eldest - and Bronson who was killed while serving with the Australian Air force during World War Two. During his war service, Bronson wired money home to pay for Rex's education.

As a child Rex was quite the Huckleberry Fin character, enjoying fishing, nearly drowning in an odd boating contraption he'd created, and tearing his hip open in a crash on a self made go kart. But his creative juices were stirring at an early age, with a keen interest in drawing and a love for radio drama inspired by long nights of listening to radio plays.

His first job in the entertainment sphere was as a junior announcer at radio station 5KA in 1948 at the tender age of 18. This developed into playing various characters and then moving onto voiceovers and radio drama shows before being appointed Production Manager.

Rex met his first wife Jackie Hayes while at 5KA. It was a short marriage. He then married Dorothy Button in 1959 and produced Katherine & Thomas. In 1973 Rex met Shirley and married her in 1978, inheriting a family of 5 children – Jo, Bill, Toni, Leslie and Adam who all loved him dearly as a father
In 1959 Rupert Murdoch launched a television station in Adelaide, offering Rex the position of Program Director. It was an environment in which Rex thrived, leading to his eventual appointment as Managing Director in 1977.

A highly successful early children's program featured a dressed up chimpanzee, but unfortunately the chimp's contract had to be terminated after he savagely bit the young host of the show.

With a new star urgently required, Rex utilized his drawing skills to create Humphrey B Bear, a character which went on to win many awards including: A Logie in 1970, a Parents without Partners Distinguished Service to Children Award in 1975, a Festival of Light Award in 1978, a Gold Record for 'Look there Humphrey Bear', a Logie for Best Children's TV Series in 1982, and a Penguin Award for Best Children's Personality in 1982.

When Rupert Murdoch gained control of the 10 Network in Melbourne, he offered Rex the position of Director of Production, bringing Rex and his family to Melbourne where he and Shirley built a house in Belgrave. Rex and Shirley often described the following 20 years as the happiest years of their lives together.

Rex was included on the Queens Birthday Honors List in 2006 and awarded the Order of Australia Medal for services to the television industry. Looking back on his life, Rex once stated, "I can't say my life has been boring, quite the contrary, I've been very lucky, I've enjoyed my work, and been a part of the Golden Years of Radio and Television".

Rex passed away peacefully at Cabrini Palliative Care in Prahran after a short fight with cancer.