NZ On Screen: TV's best moustaches

Will Hall will sport an amazing mo for the Outrageous Fortune prequel, Westside Story.

Opinion

With this year’s Movember in full swing, NZ On Screen Content Director Irene Gardiner looks back at some of the most impressive moustaches on New Zealand television.

1970s TV produced more than its fare share of significant moustaches, but one of the most fulsome was on the face of a man who was at the centre of one our our most dramatic moments on television - and that's not in the TV drama sense of the word.

It was weightlifter Graham May, who became a household face after this memorable moment at the 1974 Commonwealth Games. You might have seen the infamous weightlifting action before, but this time check out the magnificent mo.

You can see Graham May and his moustache here:

Another particularly splendid 1970s moustache adorned the face of a young radio DJ and TV music show host by the name of Paul Holmes. In tandem with a full afro, it was a riot of hair, which you can see in this item from rock show Grunt Machine.

See Paul Holmes on Grunt Machine here:

Of course the young Sir Paul was in fairly good mustachioed company hosting a 1970s rock show - there were giant mos all over the place. By the 1980s, however, moustaches had thinned out a bit on the music scene. But not in the case of long-time musician and composer Murray Grindlay's side project as Monte Video. He almost looks like Borat in the music video for his novelty hit Shoop Shoop Diddy Wop Cumma Cumma Wang Dang.

View Shoop Shoop Diddy Wop Cumma Cumma Wang Dang here:

Our most popular 1980s entertainer Billy T James also had a moustache that was nearly as big as his gigantic talent. It was present through all of his 1980s comedy shows, and is in fine form in this live TV special from 1990.

Watch Billy T Live here:

Game show hosts in the 1980s were often the possessors of notable moustaches, with both Sale of the Century's Steve Parr and Lotto's Doug Harvey sporting fine examples. You can see Harvey's splendid effort in the first ever Lotto draw from 1987.

Watch Lotto's first broadcast here:

In recent times we have had Close Up host Mark Sainsbury presenting primetime current affairs with a full-on moustache, but facial hair on our TV newsmen was for a long time a complete no-no.

As you will see in this highlights package of our main primetime TVNZ newsreaders from throughout the years, it wasn't till the late 1980s and Richard Long that a moustache got anywhere near the evening news.

See moustache-wearer Richard Long and his clean-shaven predecessors here:

- nzherald.co.nz