TV QUEEN HAZEL PHILLIPS! - ‘I'LL RETIRE WHEN I'M DEAD!'

STILL FABULOUS AT 92, THERE’S NO STOPPING THIS ICON

Aussie TV’s unstoppable trailblazer Hazel Phillips is still glittering, glamorous and thrilled to be busy working at age 92. In fact, she laughs out loud when asked about retirement.

“That dreaded ‘R’ word! Oh gosh no, I’m having way too much fun … I love showbiz! That’s been my life for so long, so while my body holds up and I’ve still got my marbles, it’s great to be performing.

“I’ll retire when I’m dead,” chuckles the remarkably spry TV Week Gold Logiewinning legend.

Often dubbed Australia’s answer to Betty White in terms of her remarkable career longevity, British-born Hazel began performing when she was just 18 months old.

“My mother stood me on a table as a tot and had me recite Shakespeare,” reveals Hazel. “I’ve been singing and dancing since I was 3.”

In 1984, she won the Miss South England beauty contest, before emigrating to Australia in 1951. That same year Hazel married her husband, Bill, a former carpenter turned TV director. Together they had two sons, Mark and Scott.

“Money was tight, so it was while raising our boys that I started entering competitions to win anything,” recalls Hazel.

She entered the Search For Miss TV contest in 1956, becoming the first woman to appear on TV in Australia.

“It was closed circuit, but it was still television,” she quips.

Hazel continued to work in comedy as well as in the theatre – singing, dancing and playing the piano.