Peter Lotis: Radio and TV personality

1931-2015

VETERAN broadcaster and recording artist Peter Lotis has died at his Johannesburg home at the age of 83.

Lotis had been on air at Radio Today, the Johannesburg community radio station he founded, up until a few weeks before his death.

He was born in the city’s multiracial suburb of Vrededorp, a fact he wore like a badge of honour, to a Greek father (from the island of Ithaca) and an English mother. His cafe-owner father’s surname was originally Kandilotis.

Lotis’s mother, who worked for the Johannesburg Operatic and Dramatic Society, urged him to enter singing competitions and eisteddfods from an early age. Confident and an outstanding singer, he won several prizes.

His elder brother Dennis became a singing star in his own right, and it was through him that Lotis got his first big break as an adult: singing with the Ted Heath Orchestra in London in the mid-to-late ’50s.

After he returned to South Africa, Lotis embarked on a successful career in the entertainment industry, collecting multiple Sarie awards.

FAMILIAR VOICE: Peter Lotis was a consummate entertainer

He became known for singing at Ciro’s nightclub with the likes of Dan Hill, and recorded several singles such as Honey, Sunday Girl, Walking in the Sunshine and Husbands and Wives that climbed the local charts. He also sang the English version of the theme tune to the animated TV series Heidi.

A stint as marketing director at Gallo allowed him to help launch the careers of stars such as Min Shaw, Annabel Linder and Billy Forrest.

An all-round entertainer, he even dabbled in film acting.

But the career that would come to define him was decided almost by accident one day in the late ’50s. He was playing golf when he heard that Springbok Radio was looking for a DJ. On an impulse he went to shower, donning his leather lumber jacket to look presentable.

At the audition, he played a Freddy Cannon tune but the station’s management seemed unimpressed. Convinced he’d blown it, Lotis impulsively grabbed a girl and started bop- ping and jiving to the track. That chutzpah clinched the job for him, and Springbok Radio became his home for the next 20plus years.

Lotis was the first South African radio presenter to boast a million listeners to his show Radio Record Club. With Bob Courtney, he hosted the popular Pick a Box show, which was later transferred to television.

After the SABC closed Springbok Radio in 1985, there was a strong push for a station catering for over-50s.

Lotis eventually took up the cudgels to start Radio Today in 1996, roping in his old friend Courtney to assist.

Former presenters from the English service and Springbok Radio volunteered their services for free to get the fledgling station up and running.

Lotis was recently hospitalised with a chest infection and pneumonia. After a spell in intensive care, he died at home with his family and beloved ginger cat, Lockshen, nearby.

He was a devoted family man and leaves his third wife Rosalie; his three sons — Larry, Daron and Greg — by his first wife; stepdaughter Mandy; and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. — Christina Kennedy