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Rod Kirkham

Born in Ivanhoe, Victoria on the 26th of October 1955. Rod's first taste of showbusiness came at the age of 9 when he entered a Melbourne radio talent quest. he did well, and went on to enter that talent quest segment of Channel Sevens Brian and the Juniors. Rod impressed the producers and was offered a permanent place on the show. At 11, while still with Brian and the Juniors, he made his stage debut playing the lead in a 3 month Melbourne return season of Oliver! In 1969, Rod made the decision to leave Brian and the Juniors just a few weeks before it ended. The following year 15 year old Rod appeared on the ABC-TV entertainment program Sounds Like Us which highlighted young entertainers. He entered the 3XY-Marchants Teenage Talent Quest being conducted throughout Victoria's schools. It carried a recording contract with Lewis-Young Productions, a $300 cash prize and the finalists would appear on Johnny Young's Happening '70... Rod won! At the start of 1971 he was a contestant on Channel Nine's Melbourne-based show, Kevin Dennis New Faces, won his heat and was offered a place in the state final. In March 1971 he added another talent quest to his string of wins when he entered the Melbourne Moomba Festival - Song Star Quest. One week later he was offered a job on a new Channel 0 televison series called Young Talent Time. He stayed with the show the next two years.