New Zealand radio and television personality (1916–2001)
Selwyn Featherston Toogood (4 April 1916 – 27 February 2001) was a New Zealand radio and television personality.
Early life and family.
Born in Wellington on 4 April 1916, Toogood was the son of Henry Featherston Toogood and Ethel Lois Copus "Noonie" Toogood (née Butler). Through his mother, Toogood was the great-grandson of John Howell, who established a whaling station at Riverton, and his second wife, Caroline Brown, whose mother was Māori from the Ngāi Tahu iwi. Toogood did not learn of his Māori ancestry until he was 18 years old.
Toogood was educated at Wellesley College and Wellington College, where he had an inauspicious career, apart from excelling in the dramatic arts.
On 30 June 1948, Toogood married Cynthia Holden Webb at St Peter's church, in Willis Street, Wellington. Cynthia's brother was Sir Richard Webb, who served as the New Zealand Chief of Defence Staff between 1971 and 1976. The Toogoods went on to have two sons, including Kit Toogood, who was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 1999 and a High Court judge in 2011.
Military service.
Toogood joined the army following the outbreak of World War II. As an ammunition officer, he saw active service in Greece, North Africa and Italy, rising to the rank of major. He was mentioned in dispatches in 1944, in recognition of gallant and distinguished service in Italy.
In 1953, Toogood was awarded the Efficiency Decoration.
Acting and broadcasting career.
After leaving school, Toogood became involved in theatre and radio, including a role in New Zealand's first radio soap opera. On a troopship on the way home from World War II, he ran his first quiz show. After the war, Toogood picked up where he had left off as a stage actor, voice-over artist and radio announcer.
He began his career as a radio host in 1946 and was the originator of the game show "It's in the Bag", in which he popularised the catch-phrases, "By hokey", and "What will it be, customers - the money or the bag?", in New Zealand. "It's in the Bag" eventually moved on to network television, where it was equally successful. He published his autobiography "Out Of The Bag" in 1979. Toogood hosted numerous other TV shows for the Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand and Television New Zealand, including the panel show "Beauty and the Beast" and the children's quiz show "W3". He retired from "It's in the Bag" in the 1980s, handing over the mantle to radio and TV host John Hawkesby.
In the 1977 New Year Honours, Toogood was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for community services. Toogood was awarded a special lifetime achievement award by the New Zealand Academy of Film and Television Arts in New Zealand in 1999.
Death.
Toogood died in Auckland in 2001, and his ashes were buried in Karori Cemetery. Cynthia Toogood died in 2005.
References.
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