From masterchefs and iconic artists to sporting legends and trailblazing politicians, Australia lost some of its most loved — and most controversial — icons in 2023.
Take a look back at some of the Australians who died this year.
Jock Zonfrillo, star chef
The MasterChef Australia judge and celebrity chef, who had previously shared his battle with heroin addiction, died unexpectedly in May. He was 46.
Born in Glasgow to an Italian father and a Scottish mother, Jock Zonfrillo — born Barry Zonfrillo — moved to Australia at the age of 20. He went on to spend decades operating renowned restaurants in Sydney and Adelaide, before landing the television gig in 2019.
Zonfrillo was known for highlighting Australian native ingredients in his restaurants, sourcing ingredients from remote Aboriginal communities. "I describe it quite simply as Australian," he said of his cooking in 2013.
A statement from his family released in the wake of his death said there were "so many words" to describe him, and "so many stories" to be told. "For those who crossed his path, became his mate, or were lucky enough to be his family, keep this proud Scot in your hearts when you have your next whisky," it read.
Barry Humphries, legendary entertainer
Barry Humphries, the man behind beloved characters Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson, died in April aged 89.
Owing to his undeniable stage presence, brilliant comedic timing and quick wit, Humphries defined a genre and changed the face of Australian comedy.
"With over 70 years on the stage, he was an entertainer to his core, touring up until the last year of his life and planning more shows that will sadly never be," he family said in a statement following his death.
"The characters he created, which brought laughter to millions, will live on."
While he was most known for his comedic alter egos, Humphries also appeared in more than 20 films and authored numerous books and stage plays. According to his family, he was also a painter, author, poet, collector and "lover of art in all its forms".
He died in hospital after being admitted due to ongoing complications from hip surgery.
Joy Chambers-Grundy, Neighbours icon
Joy Chambers-Grundy, best known for her role as Rosemary Daniels in Neighbours, died peacefully in her sleep in September. She was 76.
Born in Ipswich in 1946, she also went on to star in The Restless Years and The Young Doctors. Her performances earned her multiple awards, including Logies for Best Female Personality in 1969 and 1970.
But Chambers-Grundy's talents extended beyond the silver screen — with her husband, multimillionaire media mogul Reg Grundy, she helped build a successful independent production company that operated across 20 countries.
"Joy will be remembered as a Logie Award-winning actress, a best-selling author, a poet, a philanthropist, and an exceptional businesswoman," her family said in a statement following her death.
In the 1990s, Chambers-Grundy found her niche in writing historical fiction, which was described as her "fifth career". She released her final novel, The Soldier's Choice, in 2014.
Note to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers: Yunupingu's last name and image are used here in accordance with the wishes of his family.
Yunupingu, land rights warrior
A giant in the fight for Indigenous land rights, Gumatj clan leader Yunupingu died in north-east Arnhem Land earlier this year. He was 74.
Yunupingu was a long-term chair of the Northern Land Council, serving eight terms over 24 years, a former Australian of the Year, a Garma festival chairman, singer, painter and force of community power. According to Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney, over two decades he was "one of the most significant leaders ... of First Nations people" across the country.
Born in 1948 to the powerful Gumatj clan leader Mungurrawuy Yunupingu, he was encouraged by his father to pursue a Western education while maintaining his Yolngu traditions.
Following his death, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Yunupingu was a man who "walked in two worlds with authority, power and grace".
"Yunupingu understood a fundamental truth: if you want to make your voice count, you have to make sure that it's heard."
Johnny Ruffo, soap opera star
An actor who starred in the TV soap Home and Away and competed in The X Factor, Johnny Ruffo died of brain cancer in November, aged 35.
Ruffo was born in Perth in 1988, and first came to public attention in 2011 as a contestant on the musical reality TV show The X Factor. After coming third in the competition he signed a contract with Sony Music Australia and recorded a duet with singer Guy Sebastian.
In 2013 Ruffo was cast as Chris Harrington in the TV soap opera Home and Away, and in 2014 was nominated for the most popular new talent award at the 2014 Logies.
Ruffo first revealed he had been diagnosed with brain cancer in 2017. He underwent surgery and later announced he was in remission. But his cancer returned in 2020, with Ruffo sharing on Instagram he had been experiencing unexpected seizures and "excruciating headaches".
In his 2022 memoir, No Finish Line, he revealed his cancer was terminal, describing the first moment he was told about the 7-centimetre tumour in his brain, also known as a stage three oligodendroglioma.
A statement shared on his Instagram account on November 10 said Ruffo died peacefully "with the support of some incredible nurses and doctors", surrounded by his partner Tahnee and family.
His Home and Away co-star Georgie Parker said Ruffo was "truly one in a million". "It's ridiculously cruel that he's no longer here," she said.
John Olsen, iconic artist
One of Australia's most acclaimed and celebrated artists who was known for his vivid depictions of landscapes and nature, John Olsen died in April aged 95.
Born in Newcastle in 1928, Olsen studied art at Julian Ashton Art School before enrolling at East Sydney Technical College, where he quickly made a name for himself.
"It took a lot of courage to be an artist in those days and he had no hesitation but to run with it and in art he found his calling," his son and gallerist Tim Olsen said.
Olsen studied printmaking in Paris and lived in an artist colony in Mallorca before returning to Australia inspired to paint the landscapes and nature of his home country. In 1971 he was commissioned to paint the 21-metres-wide mural Salute to Five Bells, which still hangs in the Sydney Opera House.
During his 60-year career Olsen's works were exhibited in galleries around Australia and overseas. After receiving an Order of Australia in 2001, Olsen described art as a form of compulsion which he started developing at age four: "Artists are born, not made," he said.
He won the Archibald Prize in 2005, the Wynne Prize in 1969 and 1985, and the Sulman Prize in 1989.
Olsen died in April, surrounded by his family.
"Apart from our First Nation artists, he changed the perspective and way that Australians looked at our magnificent landscape," Tim Olsen said of his father. "He was a landscape poet to the end and a titan of the Australian art world."
Jim Molan, Liberal senator
A Liberal senator and former major general in the Australian Army, Jim Molan died of cancer in January. He was 72.
Molan's military career spanned four decades and included deployments to Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Iraq, where he held a senior operations role.
He retired from the army in 2008 and became involved in politics in 2012, entering the Senate in 2017.
In April 2021, Molan announced he was taking sick leave after being diagnosed with "an aggressive form of cancer". He later returned to parliament, having undergone treatment, and was re-elected to a six-year term in the Senate in the 2022 election.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described Molan as "a man of principle and a politician of conviction". "Jim Molan lived his life in service of our country," he tweeted.
In a statement Opposition Leader Peter Dutton described Molan as a "distinguished soldier and military commander, an admired politician of centre-right convictions, and a perceptive author and respected public commentator who expressed his views with courage".
"Whether it was on the battlefield, in the political arena, or on the media stage, Jim was admired for his discernment, leadership and unfailingly courteous manner," Dutton said.
James Hardy, champion yachtsman
A South Australian champion yachtsman and wine businessman, Sir James Hardy died in June, aged 90.
Widely known as "Gentleman Jim", Sir James was an Olympic sailor before he became part of the first team to defeat the United States in the America's Cup sailing race in 1983.
He was born in Adelaide in 1932, the great-grandson of the founder of his family's wine company, where he worked from 1953 until its sale to Accolade in 2003.
Sir James was made an OBE in 1975 and knighted in 1981 for "services to yachting and the community".
As well as serving as chairman of the Hardy company, he sat on the boards and councils of many public institutions and charities whilst continuing to sail competitively until late in his life.
Sir James passed away peacefully in Adelaide in June, his life celebrated in a state funeral at St Peter's College Memorial Hall.
"He was a business leader, Olympian and famously led the charge for Australia in three America's Cup campaigns," said South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas.
Ron Barassi, AFL legend
An AFL legend who won 10 premierships as a player and coach and pioneered the ruck rover position, Ron Barassi died after falling in September, aged 87.
The Melbourne Football Club coterie pledged looked after Barassi after his father, who played 58 games for Melbourne, was killed in Tobruk in World War II.
Barassi played 254 senior VFL games in his career: 204 for Melbourne and 50 for Carlton. He helped Melbourne win six premierships between 1955 and 1964 before moving to Carlton as captain-coach in 1965.
He retired from senior football in 1969 but continued on as coach, leading the team to one of the greatest comebacks in VFL history against Collingwood in 1970.
Barassi was one of the first inductees to the AFL Hall of Fame in 1996 when he was also elevated to Legend status. Ten years later he was elevated to a Legend of Australian Sport.
AFL Commission chairman Richard Goyder said Barassi was "the most important figure in Australian football" since World War II.
"He revolutionised the game as a player – created the position of ruck rover – built premiership success at clubs as a coach and then was our first great evangelist to take the game north and grow it to become what we have today," Goyder said.
"He was known all across Australia when football wasn't always known."
Simon Crean, former Labor leader
A former federal Labor leader whose generosity and commitment to his principles earned him respect from both sides of politics, Simon Crean died suddenly in Berlin in June, aged 74.
Crean was president of the ACTU before he moved into federal politics, serving as the member of parliament for the Melbourne seat of Hotham from 1990 to 2013. He was a cabinet minister in the Hawke, Keating, Rudd and Gillard governments and leader of the federal parliamentary Labor Party while in opposition from 2001 to 2003.
Crean famously opposed prime minister John Howard's decision to deploy Australian troops to Iraq in 2003, arguing the PM was justifying war, not planning for peace.
Labor minister Bill Shorten said Crean had shown "incredible courage in opposing the second Gulf War in Iraq". "Being an opposition leader is very tough," he said, "but to stand against the drums of war takes a very special brand of conviction."
As arts minister, Crean in 2013 launched the National Cultural Policy, Creative Australia, which included increased investment in Indigenous art.
"Simon always believed culture defines us," his wife Carole said at his state funeral. He always celebrated that Australia had the oldest continuous culture on Earth, she said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Crean, who died of a pulmonary embolism after his morning exercise, wold be missed enormously. "Simon was a great servant of the Labor Party and of the broader labour movement," he said.
"Above all he was a thoroughly decent human being who was kind, generous and always of good humour. This brought him respect across the political spectrum."
Bill Hayden, former governor-general and Labor leader
A former governor general, one-time Labor Party leader and an architect of universal healthcare in Australia, Bill Hayden died in October, aged 90.
Born in 1933, William George Hayden was raised in working class Brisbane. After leaving school at 16 he worked as a public servant, then a police officer, while he completed a degree in economics.
Hayden entered parliament in 1961 after being elected to the Queensland seat of Oxley. He served as social security minister and treasurer in the Whitlam government.
As minister for social security he introduced Medibank, the first plan for universal healthcare, as well as the first single mother's pension. As Prime Minister Anthony Albanese observed in October, Hayden's service as a police officer helped him understand that "poverty too often trapped women in violent relationships".
Still, when Gough Whitlam gave him the job of health and welfare, Hayden was initially disappointed. "I said: 'Awh, is there anything else?'" he said in 2014. "I asked for economic portfolios, and he said: 'Grab it lad, it'll be the making of you'."
Hayden became party leader after two election defeats in 1975 and 1977, giving Labor "a new direction" and empowering a new generation of talent, Albanese said. His leadership "laid the foundation for the social and economic reforms that created three decades of economic growth and delivered Australia a new era in education, foreign affairs, environmental policy and – of course – universal healthcare".
In 1989 Bob Hawke appointed Hayden governor-general, a position he held for seven years.
"We give thanks for the life of a remarkable Queenslander," Albanese said at Hayden's state funeral. "A great Australian. And a profoundly good human being."
Mary-Louise McLaws, go-to epidemiologist
An epidemiologist and infection control expert who became a go-to source for reliable information when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in Australia, Mary-Louise McLaws died in August, aged 70, 18 months after being diagnosed with and treated for a brain tumour.
Prior to the pandemic McLaws was a respected epidemiologist and emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales who also served as a World Health Organisation adviser to China, working in Hong Kong to help control SARS, then in Malaysia, becoming a member of the WHO's Infection Prevention and Control Global Unit.
The emergence of COVID-19 was McLaws' "time to shine" and she quickly became a reliable source for journalists scrambling to provide information on the crisis as borders were closed and lockdowns imposed. As Virginia Trioli wrote: "Her kind and reasonable agreement to almost any request, no matter how ridiculously early or late, was astonishing."
She was vocal about closing the Australian border and made a point of her commitment to speaking frankly about public health issues free of politics: "My tone should always be, 'I'm not political but I will tell you what I think as an epidemiologist and as a global epidemiologist as well and what the [World Health Organisation] and others are trying to achieve'," she told ABC Radio Melbourne.
In June 2022, McLaws was appointed an officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the General Division "for distinguished service to medical research, particularly to epidemiology and infection prevention, to tertiary education, and to health administration".
Helena Carr, businesswoman
The wife of former New South Wales premier and foreign minister Bob Carr, Helena Carr died of a brain aneurysm while on an overseas trip in October. She was 77.
Ms Carr was declared dead after suddenly losing consciousness in her hotel bathroom in Vienna, Austria, where she and her husband had been walking, lunching with friends and enjoying the opera just hours before.
"She was the light of my life, the little friend always there," Mr Carr said in a statement at the time.
Mr Carr said his Malaysian-born wife had been "the CEO, the CFO, the chief strategist and the financial planner" of their 50-year marriage. She was also a successful business leader, running the security printing division at Coca-Cola Amatil before jointly buying a major printing firm from the John Sands Group in 1991.
At her funeral at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney, Mr Carr shared that she would often delay talking about her own achievements to let him shine as a rising MP. Only after he was first sworn in to a ministry under Neville Wran in 1984 did Ms Carr reveal she had been appointed to a board, he said: "She hadn't wanted to take the gloss off my own initial climb up the greasy pole of politics."
After serving as NSW premier from 1995 to 2005, Mr Carr returned to parliament in 2012 as a federal senator and foreign minister in the Gillard government. In his eulogy for his wife he said she had loved "the play, the humour, the personality" of politics. "It's inconceivable I could have done this for the [Labor] party without Helena by my side."
Justin Yerbury, renowned molecular microbiologist
Justin Yerbury, a renowned molecular biologist who spent years researching the very disease that would eventually claim his own life, died in July at the age of 49.
Yerbury, an award-winning professor at the University of Wollongong, began studying motor neurone disease (MND) after his mother, grandmother and aunt all died from the neurodegenerative illness in the space of six weeks in 2002.
When his sister died from MND at 26, Yerbury and his surviving sister were tested for the condition, which can be genetic and run in families. His test revealed he carried the gene for MND.
But Yerbury put his head down and in 2008 earned a PhD from the University of Wollongong before working as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Cambridge.
Yerbury began experiencing MND symptoms in 2016 and soon after was diagnosed with the condition. He gradually lost his ability to walk, talk and breathe independently and needed around-the-clock care, as well as a motorised wheelchair, ventilator and eye-gaze technology to communicate.
Despite his many challenges and limitations he continued working on MND and demonstrated that protein deposits found in motor neurons resulted from dysfunction in a process known as protein homeostasis. He was awarded the University of New South Wales Eureka Prize for Scientific Research for his work, as well as the award for Excellence in Medical Biological Sciences in the 2022 NSW Premier's Prizes for Science and Engineering.
Yerbury was hospitalised with a collapsed lung in late 2022 and later began to experience paralysis of his eye muscles, which affected his ability to communicate.
"The thing that unites us all is the hopelessness that an incurable disease brings, but I want to change that," he said in the months before his death. "I want a better life for people with MND and I want to make MND a treatable disease."
Gabrielle Carey, Puberty Blues co-author
Gabrielle Carey, an academic and co-author of the Australian coming-of-age novel Puberty Blues, died suddenly in May, aged 64.
Carey was a teenager when she and Kathy Lette wrote Puberty Blues, which contained frank depictions of teenage sex and sexism in surf and youth culture in 1970s Sydney. It was published in 1979 and turned into a film two years later.
Carey, who was a senior lecturer in creative writing at the University of Technology Sydney, wrote 10 books. Her most recent title, Only Happiness Here: In Search of Elizabeth von Arnim, was published in 2020.
Her 2013 book, Moving Among Strangers: Randolph Stow and My Family, jointly won the 2014 Prime Minister's Award for Non-Fiction and was shortlisted for the National Biography Award.
In December 2020 Carey wrote an opinion article in the Sydney Morning Herald about her struggle with depression, a mental illness from which her father also suffered.
"It was only decades later, when my father died from suicide on the very day he turned 64, that I became terrified of that number," she wrote. "If I have inherited my father's disposition for depression, did that mean I would also end up in an early grave?"
Her literary agent Jane Novak said Carey was one of Australia's greatest writers, and her "skill as a memoirist and biographer is particularly notable".
"But it was her unflinching examination of the human condition and her emotional honesty that I loved her for," Novak said.
"That, and her formidable intellect and her wonderful sparkling and spiky personality. This is a terrible, terrible loss."
Joy McKean, country music trailblazer
A trailblazer of country music in Australia, winner of the first ever Golden Guitar award, and Slim Dusty's wife and manager, Joy McKean died in May, aged 93.
McKean was a talented songwriter and musician who, during her 70-year career, also wrote many of her husband's most famous songs.
She rose to country fame in the 1940s and '50s, working with her sister Heather as the McKean Sisters, though back then she said the industry was "chauvinistic": "Nobody would have believed I was writing [the songs]," she said.
Australian country music scored its golden couple when McKean teamed up with Slim Dusty, who she married in 1951 and managed professionally for decades.
In 1973 she won the first Golden Guitar award at the Tamworth Country Music Festival for the song Lights on the Hill, going on to win another six Golden Guitars during her career. McKean was also twice inducted into the Australasian Country Music Roll of Renown and also won the Industry Achiever Award from the Country Music Association of Australia, which she co-founded in 1992.
In 1991, McKean was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for "service to the entertainment industry" and in 2021 was the recipient of the Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music.
She died peacefully surrounded by her family after a long battle with cancer.
Father Bob Maguire, people's priest
A social justice campaigner and "people's priest" who dedicated his life to standing up for the poor and marginalised, Father Bob Maguire died in April, aged 88.
Maguire was born in Thornbury, Melbourne, in 1934, and tragically lost two sisters and both his parents by the time he was 16.
He entered the seminary at Werribee in 1953 and was ordained as a priest in 1960.
Maguire was the parish priest of Saints Peter and Paul's Catholic Church in South Melbourne from 1973 to 2012, and left only after clashing with the Catholic Church hierarchy over its mandate that priests retire at age 75. He eventually reached a deal allowing him to remain a priest until he was 77, and he retired in 2012.
In his final mass, he said his forced retirement would not stop him from working to improve the lives of people less fortunate.
"I can't take the church with me, and I don't have another church to go to," he said, "[But] I'm still Bob Maguire the Catholic priest and I'm still Father Bob the citizen."
Maguire's charity and advocacy work and wicked sense of humour made him a popular man particularly in Melbourne, and he continued working with his foundation, which delivers hundreds of free meals to those in need each week, after he retired.
He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1989 for his service to homeless youth and was named Victorian of the Year in 2011.
He died at Cabrini Hospital in Melbourne months after his health began declining.
Renée Geyer, soul singer
Renée Geyer, a soul singer whose husky vocals shot her to fame in the 1970s, died in January from complications of hip surgery. She was 69.
One of the country's most celebrated singers, Geyer described herself in her 2000 autobiography as "a white Hungarian Jew from Australia sounding like a 65-year-old black man from Alabama".
Born in Melbourne in 1953, Geyer sang with different bands in the 1970s, including the jazz-rock group Sun, before launching her solo career with a self-titled album in 1973. She released her highest-charting single, Heading in the Right Direction, in 1975.
She quickly became a sought after vocalist and collaborated with numerous artists during her career — Sting, Chaka Khan, Joe Cocker, Neil Diamond and others — and continued performing right up until the month before she died.
Geyer was nominated for several ARIA awards but never won, and was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Music Victoria Hall of Fame in 2013. She received the lifetime achievement award at the Australian Women in Music awards in 2018.
Geyer was known for her rebellious streak; she once slapped Molly Meldrum in the face while being interviewed live on air on Countdown and was open about her struggles with addiction in the 1970s and 80s.
While she was in hospital it was discovered Geyer also had inoperable lung cancer, her family said in her statement: "She was in no pain and died peacefully amongst family and friends."
"Renée was irrepressible, cheeky and loyal and her musical legacy speaks for itself," they said. "Renée lived her life as she performed — on her own terms and to the fullest."
Bruce Petty, political cartoonist
An Academy Award-winning cartoonist best known for his sharp satire of Australian and world politics, Bruce Petty died in April after a long illness, aged 93.
Petty grew up on a small farm in the Melbourne suburb of Doncaster. At age 19 he began working at the Owen brothers' animation studio in Box Hill, and his first project was writing the script for a film that aimed to raise safety awareness among children, called Careful Koala.
After working briefly in the art department at Melbourne's Herald newspaper, in 1954 Petty moved to London, where his work was published in the satirical magazine Punch, and then onto New York, where his work was featured in The New Yorker and Esquire, among other publications.
Back in Australia, he established himself as prominent political cartoonist, creating sharp satirical works for The Australian and The Age.
"I suppose it is traditional that political cartoonists take on people with power in the community," Petty said in his bio for The Age.
"There is now even more important, more anonymous, figures who run our global, corporate world … We [cartoonists] keep drawing politicians but the real power is often with a different set of people. We draw them as a vague, ominous people."
In 1977 Petty won an Academy Award for his short film Leisure, though he claimed to have never received the statuette. "When I got it, the Oscar went to the producer. We got a picture of it, a very nice gold-framed picture," he told The Age in 2004.
He was also the recipient of a Silver Stanley Award by the Australian Cartooning Association in 2001, a Quill Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009 and a Walkley Award in 2016.
Peta Murphy, Labor MP
Before entering politics Murphy was a a senior public defender at Victoria Legal Aid and a barrister at the Victorian Law Reform Commission.
She was first elected to the House of Representatives in the Victorian seat of Dunkley in 2019 and became a "rare figure" in that she was universally liked across the parliament.
Murphy was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011 but, after a period of recovery, her cancer returned shortly after her 2019 election victory. She had a metastatic breast cancer which was treatable but not curable, and in recent years had switched from oral to intravenous chemotherapy, which she received on three out of every four Fridays.
Working with the Breast Cancer Network Australia, she advocated for a national registry for metastatic cancer patients.
Murphy was with her husband Rod when she died in their family home.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government was "broken-hearted".
"It was so true to Peta's character that she channelled her personal battle with breast cancer into public policy, advocating always for others: for better treatment, more services and stronger support," Albanese said.
"In 2019, Peta received the news her cancer had returned two weeks prior to being sworn in as an MP. In her remarkable first speech in the parliament she said: 'I am neither unique nor alone in the fight I am about to take on'.
"In so many wonderful ways, Peta was unique. But as someone who inspired such affection and respect in the hearts of so many, she was never alone."
Brian Walsh, media titan
A veteran media executive who helped the once-struggling soap opera Neighbours find global success and who was the creative force behind many other popular TV shows, Brian Walsh died suddenly in March, aged 67.
Walsh held senior positions at Network Ten, Sky Broadcasting in the UK, Sky TV in Asia, and Foxtel. He began his almost 50-year career at the ABC before moving into feature film production and distribution at Palm Beach Pictures, and promotions and publicity at Sydney radio station 2SM.
He later moved to Ten, where he played an integral role in the 1985 decision to acquire Neighbours after it was dumped by channel Seven. Walsh led the show's revival and is credited with helping build the careers of Nicole Kidman, Kylie Minogue and Hugh Jackman.
At Foxtel, which he joined in 1995, Walsh was the driving force behind numerous TV series including Deadline Gallipoli, The Kettering Incident, Wentworth, Upright, Love Me, Colin From Accounts and The Twelve.
He died unexpectedly after collapsing at his Potts Point apartment.
"Australia's creative community has lost a much-loved figure in Brian," said Foxtel Group chief Patrick Delany. "For us, the loss is heavily felt. At the Foxtel Group, Brian was a long-time mentor, a confidant, a colleague and an unwavering friend to so many."
Federal Art Minister Tony Burke said he was devastated to hear of Walsh's death: "Countless Australian stories were told and careers forged because of Brian's vision, commitment and innate understanding of great storytelling."