After more than four decades in TV, the host of The Chase and The Morning Show, Larry Emdur, has experienced a full-blown career rebirth, all thanks to a simple, heartfelt gesture that spiralled into an empire he never imagined.
“I made 60 bottles of whiskey for 60 friends for my 60th birthday and it tasted unreal,” Larry tells TV WEEK proudly.
“We won a big gold medal in San Francisco, which is a really important spirits competition. Now, we’ve just won a gold medal in Asia and New York. It was just a bit of fun and now it’s exploded.”
The 2024 TV WEEK Gold Logie winner has been on Australian screens since he was 19, but before all that, Larry was a beach bum from Bondi – the inspiration for his booming whiskey brand, Ben Buckler.
“The northern end of Bondi is called Ben Buckler, which is where I grew up,” Larry says. “There are three streets on Ben Buckler, and I lived on all of them. It’s where I first met my [wife] Sylvie and where my son, Jye, was born – it’s a huge part of my life.”
Larry, also dad to daughter Tia, has fronted The Price Is Right, Wheel of Fortune, The Morning Show, The Chase and more, but the glossy résumé doesn’t mean the road to success has been smooth.
“I was the most axed man in television,” he says with a laugh.
“You’d sign on for a show and only get three episodes and you’d go, ‘What do I do now?’ It was when the kids were young, I had a mortgage and the family had to live with the dad trying to get the next payment. It was terrible for my ego, but that’s been my life for 42 years. It was intense, it was high pressure, but I’m close to retirement now and I had to be set up properly for that, so I’ve been mindful of that and I’ve finally got a grip on it just at the last chapter.”
Through it all, he persevered – and thrived – and after a few setbacks, he landed a job as The Morning Show host alongside Kylie Gillies, a show that has sat at number one for 18 years.
“Eighteen years at number one is an extraordinary position,” he says with a wide grin. “I wouldn’t normally say it, but honestly, it’s a terrific flex.”
He’s equally energised by the next season of The Chase, on which contestants answer general knowledge questions to win money, racing against a professional quizzer.
“I’ve really enjoyed this last season – I think it was our best,” Larry reveals.
“We had some amazing contestants, the games were all terrific, the Chasers were on fire. We found a really, really great rhythm. I’m really looking forward to people seeing the new season.”
Although retirement has crossed Larry’s mind, with his busy life as an entrepreneur, a Logie winner and a TV host still helming a top-rating show, he’s more determined than ever to keep kicking goals.
“I’m not ready to roll over just yet,” he declares.
“I’ll get axed before I take myself out of TV. But if it were to happen, that’s OK, too. Sylvie and I have got lots to do in our retirement. We’ve got some beautiful big trips we want to do, and I have a business. I just never thought at this stage in my life that I could have so many fires burning in a good way. I didn’t know I had it in me.”
And as for whether Larry would bring back game show The Price Is Right – one of the series that skyrocketed him to fame – he’s leaving the door open.
“I’d love to see that back – particularly now with the cost-of-living crisis,” he says.
“There’s a real nostalgia for it. It means a lot of things to a lot of different people. I love it that it’s somehow made its way into the televisual heart of Australia.”
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