Tommy Hanlon Jr., a talented individual born into a family of vaudeville performers, joined his parents' act at the tender age of four and continued to perform throughout his life. In the 1940s, he spent two years with the esteemed Orson Welles Mercury Theatre in Los Angeles, sharing the stage with legendary comedian W.C. Fields. This experience ultimately led him to Australia in the late 1950s, where he began his television career with the popular program "In Melbourne Tonight".
As the show evolved into "The Graham Kennedy Show", Hanlon developed his signature "comic Letter From Mom" segment, which became incredibly popular. His success was so great that the Nine Network signed him to host their first national daytime program, "It Could Be You", which premiered in 1960 and achieved unprecedented ratings with its surprise reunions of long-separated relatives and friends. In fact, "It Could Be You" remains the highest-rated daytime television show in Australian history, making Hanlon's decision to leave television in 1978 all the more surprising.
In his later years, Hanlon pursued his passion for the circus, touring Australia with Silvers Circus until 2001. He was married twice, first to a woman with whom he had a son, Tommy, who went on to invent a vertical take-off aircraft and became the vice-president of Bell Helicopters. His second marriage, to Muriel, whom he affectionately referred to as "Murphy", was to a woman he met while entertaining US troops in Korea. Sadly, Muriel passed away in 1990. Hanlon is survived by his daughter April, son Tommy, four grandsons, and a great-granddaughter.
