Bert Newton: Role as family man brought TV star most satisfaction

Across a seven-decade career in broadcasting, Bert Newton played many roles.

But it was his role as a family man that brought him the greatest satisfaction.

Newton met Patti McGrath, seven years his junior, when both were youngsters working in Melbourne radio.

They reunited while Newton was working on In Melbourne Tonight alongside Graham Kennedy.

Patti, a singer and dancer on the variety show, caught his eye.

She also won the hearts of the Australian public, and in 1967 won the award for Most Popular Female in Victoria. The gong was presented to her by Newton, who was hosted the awards for the first time.

The became a couple shortly after, before publicly confirming their romance in 1969.

But the partnership got off to a rocky start. In 1971, they separated and Patti left to pursue a career in England.

It wasn’t until 1974 that Newton flew to New York to board the cruise ship where Patti was entertaining passengers with her group Patti McGrath and the Movers.

By the time the ship docked, they were engaged.

They wed at St Dominic’s Church in Melbourne - with Kennedy as best man - in November that year. Their wedding bands were inscribed with the words: “No longer two but one”.

Their wedding was a public spectacle, with 6000 fans and well-wishers packing the footpath outside the Camberwell church to see the newlyweds.

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“I don’t really think I have ever been in love with anybody else,” Patti said on a 1997 episode of This Is Your Life devoted to her husband.

“I have always loved Bert.

“Every day I think how lucky I am that I have got him and I hope that I never lose him.”

The Newtons’ son Matthew arrived in 1977 and daughter Lauren followed in 1979.

The children grew up in the spotlight, making appearances on Ford Superquiz, hosted by their famous parents throughout the 1980s.

Matthew followed his father’s footsteps into show business, and achieved success as an actor with roles in All Saints, Water Rates and Looking for Alibrandi.

But Matthew’s fairytale life as part of Australia’s royal family unravelled in the 2000s. Scandal followed, and he fell from grace after punching then-girlfriend Brooke Satchwell in 2006. Although he pleaded guilty, the conviction was later overturned after evidence from Matthew’s psychiatrist that he was in the grips of a depressive illness at the time of the attack.

The saga, and later allegations of violence against Matthew by his ex Rachael Taylor, were difficult on the Newton family, with Patti admitting the couple didn’t know how to help their son.

"His biggest problem is the fact that it's not a drug, it's not an alcohol problem as much as it's a mental health issue," she told A Current Affair in 2010.

"He's always had a bit of a problem with his temper, even as a kid, but I do think it's accelerated. We don't know how to handle it."

But in 2016, Newton told the Herald Sun Matthew was “doing good things” with a new partner and career in New York City.

"I have always prayed for a happy ending, and I think it has arrived," Newton said.

“He is a great writer, he is a great director and a fine actor and he is happy."

Daughter Lauren married champion swimmer Matt Welsh in 2006. The couple has six children, the youngest of whom Alby is named for his famous grandfather.

He told the Herald Sun being a grandfather had given him a new lease on life.

"I've been a very lucky bloke. I've had a career. I never realised when I started out I would be around as long as I have been. But towards the twilight years, it’s terrific to have such love from... wonderful little kids."