Shirley Frances Whitley Maddock ONZM (7 December 1928 – 10 October 2001) was a New Zealand producer, television presenter, author and actress.
[4][7][5] She also worked briefly at the Alexander Turnbull Library and developed an interest in New Zealand's colonial history.
[3] In an interview for a women's magazine, Maddock said:[4] In those days we did everything live and if that life were faltering through inexperience and misadventure, what we attempted was full of the zest which all pioneers share.
You had to be a jack-of-all-trades: I wrote the newsreel, the continuity for each transmission, took my turn as announcer and interviewer and produced some tentative pieces on architecture, art and William Shakespeare.In 1983, TVNZ said that her programmes were always well-researched and well-received by the public.
[5] One of Maddock's early documentaries for the NZBC was The Distant Shore (1963), about the landing at ANZAC Cove at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915.
[12] The novel was based on her own experiences as a young New Zealand woman travelling to New York City to work in commercial television.
[14] Intended to be a one-off, Islands of the Gulf ended up running to five half-hour episodes, and made Maddock a household name.
[8][3] It was only in 1965 that Maddock was allowed to use the credit title of "producer" for a documentary called A Capital Move, a centennial piece about the transfer of New Zealand government from Auckland to Wellington.
[23][24][25] These Antipodes was described by The Press as "her most ambitious book to date", and a "rich and rewarding study, filled with fascinating detail".
[38][34] In the 1999 New Year Honours, Maddock was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to broadcasting.
[39] One of those who recommended her for the honour, radio broadcaster Sharon Crosbie, said Maddock was an inspiration for other women: "She broke through and proved herself, making programmes that were a revelation.