Jamie Dunn, a veteran radio personality who unleashed Agro on Australia, entertaining both children and adults alike for decades, has died at age 76.
Dunn, who was once Australia’s longest-serving breakfast radio host, died on Saturday at his Imbil home with wife Maree by his side.
The radio presenter, who made his sharp-witted, furry puppet Agro Vation out of a bath mat, is being remembered as a larrikin and an entertainer.
Introducing Agro in the Seven Network children’s program Wombat in the 1980s, Dunn also brought his creation to Agro’s Cartoon Connection, which aired on the network from 1990 to 1997.
On radio, Dunn co-hosted the top-rating Brisbane breakfast show on B105 for 16 years before leaving the program in 2005.
Fellow radio personalities have remembered Dunn for his brash and unapologetic humour.
His Cartoon Connection co-host Jill Ray-Black said Dunn was one of those people you would never forget.
“You either loved him or hated him and sometimes both at the same time!!!!” she said on social media.
Ranger Stacey, who worked with Dunn on the TV show, said his death had left a huge hole.
“Jamie was brilliant, hilarious, sharp-witted, and above all a kind and loyal friend,” she told TV industry news site TV Blackbox.
For 10 years, Robin Bailey sat opposite Dunn on B105, where she said he taught her the craft behind his “legendary” ability for storytelling.
“Jamie was a trailblazer for our industry. I am so grateful for having been in his orbit,” she said.
4BC radio presenter Gary Hardgrave paid tribute to his long-time friend, saying he was a true entertainer.
He said Dunn always liked to joke, take the “you know what” out of things but was also a family man who had several children across a couple of marriages.
“He had a lot of fun in his life. He had a few challenges in his life, but he was always entertaining throughout his life,” Hardgrave said.
Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner paid tribute to the “proud Brisbane talent’s” quick wit, which had brought joy to millions kids such as himself growing up in the 1980s and ’90s.
“Agro’s Cartoon Connection was a daily dose of chaos, laughter and cheeky humour,” he said.
In December, Dunn said he had been in talks with Channel 7 to bring back a one hour special of Agro Up Late in 2026.
