Quick Facts
Biography
Ernie Carroll (born 26 May 1929, Melbourne) is an Australian entertainer and television personality, most recognised for his role as the man behind (and inside) Ossie Ostrich on Hey Hey It's Saturday.
Career
Carroll first appeared on Geelong radio station 3GL in the mid-1950s, and then on Melbourne television for GTV-9, working on early children's shows such as The Tarax Show both on screen and as a producer, and was a writer for Graham Kennedy. He created the character "Professor Ratbaggy", which owed its origins to Denzil Howson's "Professor Nitwitty" from the late 1950s, and he appeared as "Uncle" Ernie. He also penned the comic strip versions of Gerry Gee, Joy-Belle and Ossie Ostrich.
His greatest fame was as "Ossie Ostrich" on the long-running and successful Saturday live show, "Hey Hey It's Saturday" with Daryl Somers. He worked on "Hey Hey" from 1971 until December 1994, when he retired. He reprised his role as Ossie in 2009 with the second Hey Hey It's Saturday reunion special and later returned to the show's re-instatement in 2010. Carroll and Somers created the television production company, Somers Carroll Productions.