Gavan Disney

Gavan Francis Disney (27 May 1949 – 6 November 2018^[2]) was an Australian television producer.^[1][3][4]

Gavan Disney
Born	Gavin Francis Disney (1949-05-27)May 27, 1949
Died	November 2, 2018(2018-11-02) (aged 69)
Nationality	Australian
Occupation(s)	Television producer, manager[1]
Known for	Executive producer Hey Hey Its Saturday Healthy, Wealthy and Wise as co-creator
Notable work	Manager of John Blackman, Molly Meldrum and others[1]

Career

Disney was best known for being an executive producer of long-running Nine Network variety show Hey Hey It's Saturday and for being co-creator of Network Ten lifestyle program Healthy, Wealthy and Wise.^[1] Television personality Bert Newton credited Disney with resurrecting his career in the 1990s by recruiting him to host Network Ten morning show Good Morning Australia.^[5] Iain Hewitson also stated in an interview that Disney helped him getting a start in television by giving him life-changing career advice.^[6]

He also served as a manager for Hey Hey regular's John Blackman and Molly Meldrum and numerous other media personality's^[1]

In 2009, a jury found Disney not guilty of ten counts of indecent assault and two counts of rape, after he was charged in 2008 with assaulting a 17-year-old employee while he was a senior executive at Ballarat television station BTV6 in the 1980s.^[7][8] The jury had previously been directed by the judge to find Disney not guilty of an additional three counts of indecent assault due to a lack of evidence.^[9]

Disney died at the age of 69 in November 2018, following a long illness.^[1]