OBITUARY: MAURICE CHAPMAN

Maurice Chapman was not only one of Australia’s hi-fi pioneers, he was also a pioneer on the Australian radio scene, as an actor, announcer, reporter, producer and manager.

Australian hi-fi industry pioneer Maurice Chapman has died aged 105. Chapman was the founder and manager of several of the first Australian companies to import and distribute hi-fi equipment. As Maurice Chapman & Co, Chapman imported and distributed BASF tape. As Magnecord Sales and Service, he imported and distributed products from America’s Magnecord Corporation, including Standard music systems and cassette tape recorders. As Akai Australia, Chapman imported and distributed Akai tape recorders and hi-fi equipment. All three companies operated from 276 Castlereagh Street, Sydney.

Prior to founding these three companies, Maurice Chapman was one of the pioneers of Australian commercial radio broadcasting, starting with radio 5AD in Adelaide as a junior announcer in 1931 and in turn becoming a scriptwriter, actor, producer, program manager and production manager, until in 1938 he was appointed general manager of the Advertiser radio network. It was while he was program manager at 5AD that Chapman authorised the funding for a show titled ‘The Fourth Form at St Percy’s’, a comedy set in a school classroom. Retitled ‘Yes, What?, this show went on to become one of Australia’s best-known radio dramas with episodes being broadcast continuously from 1936 until 1996. The complete series is still available on CD from Grace Gibson Productions.

In the 1980s Chapman left the hi-fi industry to join the travel industry. He founded the United Motel chain and was one of the founders of Travel Associates in Woollahra. He continued consulting to the travel industry and travelling internationally until he was over 90. He also continued driving his beloved Porsche until he was in his nintieth year, often travelling at speeds numerically equivalent to his age, much to the chagrin of his family.

‘Dad lived on champagne and chocolate and seldom ate his veggies’, said his daughter Deborah Forbes. ‘He would have had a party every day if he could have, right up until the end.’

Maurice Dale Chapman was born in Adelaide on September 7, 1910, the youngest son of William Chapman, a tutor at Adelaide University, and his wife, Clara (nee Duell). He was educated at Pulteney Grammar School and Prince Alfred College. He married famous Australian singer and actor Iris Hart in 1937 prior to enlisting in the Australian Army in 1941, where he served as a signals instructor and a tank commander with the armoured division. At the conclusion of the war he transferred to army public relations. Hart and Chapman divorced in 1946 and in 1948 he married South Australian diving champion Marjorie Haslam. Iris and Marjorie both predeceased him. Chapman had three children and five grandchildren all of whom survive him. His three children are his and Iris’s daughter Beverley, and his and Marjorie’s daughter Deborah and son Malcolm.