In Memory of Bill Collins (1934-2019)

Bill Collins (1934-2019)

My fellow movie critics, I am so sad to announce that Bill Collins, the famed Australian film critic and historian known as "Mr Movies", passed away in his sleep at age 84 on June 20th, 2019. Collins was devoted to his love of movies as he talked about them when he presented such films as "Star Wars", "Gone with the Wind", "Scarface", "Singin' in the Rain" and "Young Frankenstein". I never had the chance to watch his show, nor did I get in touch with or meet him in person, but I admired his integrity in reviewing movies with a lot of passion and insight.

Before being a film critic, Collins was a high school teacher and college lecturer. In 1963, Bill began appearing on live television when he presented a series of film appreciation segments on an ABC program, "Roundabout". For five decades, he worked for the ABC, Seven, Nine and Ten networks in presenting classic and contemporary features for television audiences. From 1995 to 2008, Collins began working for Foxtel and became the face of Fox Classics, the platform's movie classic channel. Aside from his work on television, Collins was a newspaper columnist for many years and has authored three books and radio programs in his stead. He received the Order of Australia for distinguished service to film and television in 1987 and got inducted into the TV Week Logie Hall of Fame in 2009.

We will sorely miss him.

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