Stuart Doyle

Stuart Doyle
Doyle in 1928
Born1 December 1887
Leichhardt, New South Wales, Australia
Died20 October 1945 (aged 57)
Wahroonga, New South Wales, Australia
Occupations
  • Cinema Owner
  • company director and manager
  • managing director
  • film producer
  • radio station owner
  • showman

Stuart Frank Doyle (1 December 1887 – 20 October 1945) was an Australian radio and theatrical entrepreneur.

Early life

He was born to English parents in Leichhardt, New South Wales, on 1 December 1887.

Career

He joined Union Theatres and Australasian Films and worked his way up to managing director, establishing the Capitol Theatre and State Theatre in Sydney as well as the State Theatre in Melbourne. He also helped lead the 1929 campaign against the Federal amusement tax which contributed to the fall of the Bruce-Page government.

In 1929 along with Sir Benjamin Fuller he helped found the Australian Broadcasting Company which was taken over by the government in 1932 and became the Australian Broadcasting Commission. He then set up the Commonwealth Broadcasting Corporation which acquired Sydney radio station 2UW. He was also part of the establishment of the Australian Powerboat Association.

The Great Depression caused the demise of Union Theatres and Doyle instead established Greater Union Theatres, and its production arm, Cinesound Productions. He appointed his former assistant, Ken G. Hall, to run Cinesound, which began successfully with On Our Selection a property selected by Doyle.

Financial over-expansion saw Doyle forced out of the company by Norman Rydge and he resigned in June 1937.

Death

Doyle died suddenly with cardio-vascular disease at his home at Wahroonga on 20 October 1945 and was buried in the Anglican section of South Head cemetery.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Stuart F. Doyle". Australian Dictionary of Biography.
  2. ↑ Sir Benjamin Fuller at Live Performance Hall of Fame
  3. ↑ History of the Australian Powerboat Association
  4. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (30 August 2025). "Forgotten Australian Films: On Our Selection". Filmink. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
  5. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (3 October 2025). "Forgotten Australian Films: Thoroughbred". Filmink. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  6. ↑ "MR. S. F. DOYLE". Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 5 June 1937. p. 18. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  7. ↑ Stuart F. Doyle at Australian Dictionary of Biography
  8. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (12 July 2025). "Forgotten Australian Films: Tall Timbers". Filmink. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
  9. ↑ Shirley, Graham, "Stuart Frank Doyle (1887–1945)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 7 February 2025