 Bearde's career started in the 1950s in his adopted home, Sydney, Australia.After working in radio and serving two years in the Australian Army, at age 23 he became host of the children's television series "Smalltime".His appearances in this show and his writing for other Australian comedy shows was recognised by visiting Canadian and American producers, and Bearde was contracted by the Canadian commercial network CTV to write a comedy series in the early 1960s, entitled "Network".