Garry McDonald aka Norman Gunston

1949 Garry McDonald, Australian comedian and actor ... best known for his outrageous haemophiliac character Norman Gunston ...

Norman Gunston had many strings to his comedic bow, but in particular he made his mark with his zany 'ambush' interviews ... Norman’s victims included Muhammad Ali (who good-humouredly threatened to pulverize him), Paul McCartney (“Mr McCartney, where’s Yoko?”), Michael Caine, Diana Dors, the Bee Gees, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Elliott Gould, Charlton Heston, Mick Jagger, James Garner, Lee Marvin, Burt Reynolds, Phil Silvers, Elke Sommer, Glenda Jackson, John Stonehouse, Rudolf Nureyev, Frank Zappa and Malcolm Muggeridge.

Perhaps Norman's most well known interview was with Keith Moon at Charlton stadium in 1976. Moon famously ended his brief encounter with Norman by tipping vodka over his head. Norman asked Warren Beatty whether Carly Simon did indeed write the song ‘The Impossible Dream’ about him. Norman told Gene Simmons, of KISS, that at 7 inches, his wasn’t the longest tongue. Gunston told Boy George that the only other place he’d ever heard of anyone being called ‘Boy’ was in Tarzan films. Sally Struthers from All in the Family famously looked like she would die of laughter ...

Categories: australia, television, humour, humor