Beloved Australian television personality Maggie Tabberer has died aged 87.
Journalist Andrew Hornery broke the sad news on his social media at lunch on Friday, December 6 with an emotional tribute to the star.
“Legend. Icon. Champion. There are not enough descriptors to truly encapsulate what she represented over a seven-decade career,” he penned.
“She enjoyed a little tittle-tattle and had a wonderful sense of humour – self-deprecating but always positive.”
“What a life. Vale lovely lady.”
Maggie is survived by her daughters Brooke and Amanda, the latter also sharing an emotional tribute to her mother on Friday.
“This morning we lost our beautiful mother and Nanna. She was an icon in every sense of the word and we will miss her dearly….Along with the rest of Australia. Rest in peace, Nanna. We love you to bits forever,” she wrote.
When she was just 14, Maggie began modeling and shot to national fame. Her public profile then led to a role in television on the series Beauty and the Beast, which ran from 1964 until 1973 and cemented her star status.
She was then given her own show Maggie from 1969 until 1970 on Channel 7.
From there, she won back-to-back Gold Logies for her work on Beauty and the Beast and went on to work in a freelance capacity for the likes of 2GB, the ABC, and across several network television networks.
As well as her numerous commercial contracts and successful PR business, Maggie was also a talented fashion designer and launched her own plus-sized brand Maggie T in the early 1980’s.
From 1981 she was the fashion editor of The Australian Women’s Weekly for 15 successful years, before returning to her first love – television.
In 2023, she graced the cover of The Australian Women’s Weekly where she reminisced about life, luck, and love.
Sophie Tedmanson, Editor of The Australian Women’s Weekly described Maggie as a “trailblazer for women around the world” in a statement after news of her passing became public.
“Maggie not only empowered women through fashion and style but blazed a trail that runs deep in the history of The Weekly and she will be sorely missed.”
May she rest in peace.
