60 Minutes editor Mike Chirgwin who worked on Mad Max 2 dies aged 73 as his cause of death is revealed
Logie-award-winning television news editor Mike Chirgwin, who also worked on the classic Australian film Mad Max 2, has died of cancer at the age of 73.
Chirgwin began his television career on ABC’s groundbreaking program This Day Tonight and became best known for his long-running role on Nine’s 60 Minutes.
During his time at Nine’s flagship current affairs program, Chirgwin worked with reporters Ray Martin, George Negus, Jana Wendt, Liz Hayes, Tara Brown, Tracey Curro and Charles Wooley.
He won Logies for a 2010 episode of Australian Story about backpacker murderer Ivan Milat and for the 1980 documentary series This Fabulous Century.
Chirgwin edited the television films Cattle King (1983) and Shipwrecked (1984) and was also editor on Mad Max 2, released in the US in 1982 as The Road Warrior.
His achievements in editing were recognised with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Australian Film Institute.
Chirgwin died on August 20 in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, west of Sydney, a year after being diagnosed with a complex cancer.
Former 60 Minutes reporter Charles Wooley said Chirgwin was “a lovely man” and a highly respected colleague who excelled at his job.
Logis award-winning news editor Mike Chirgwin, who also worked on the classic Australian film Mad Max 2, has died of cancer at the age of 73
βHe was very good,β Wooley told Ny Breaking Australia.
‘The editor has to keep the story together – he weaves a tapestry – and Chirgy has woven a pretty good tapestry.
“If I were to do anything, I would want him. Everyone fought to get Chirgy.”
Wooley remembers the glory days of 60 Minutes, when reporters traveled to exotic locations around the world while technicians like Chirgwin stayed home.
“They had the best life, the road crews,” Wooley said. “He stayed in that dark room under the transmitter tower at the old Nine studios.
“But Chirgy was never bitter. Some editors were, but Chirgy wasn’t. He never resented the fact that we all went out and had a great time.”
Wooley said it wasn’t all work at 60 Minutes’ Willoughby office on Sydney’s North Shore and that Chirgwin knew how to make you have fun.
Chirgwin (right) began his television career on the groundbreaking ABC series This Day Tonight and was best known for his long stint on Nine’s 60 Minutes
“Don’t get me wrong,” Wooley said. “He was a great luncher. Work your ass off, get out of the way and go for a really long lunch.”
Hamish Thomson, former executive producer of 60 Minutes, also remembered Chirgwin as a legendary luncher and storyteller at a time when film editors were still considered craftsmen.
“They came from an era, a lost era, of film,” he said. “It was much harder to shoot on film and edit stories in those days, because you had limited material.
“Those editors were an integral part of the whole editorial process. They made great observations and additions and contributions to the actual flow of the story and how it ultimately shaped up.”
Chirgwin and his wife Kath moved to the Blue Mountains in 2002, settling in Blackheath.
He was a founder member of the Blackheath Theatre Company and was heavily involved in the local Food and Wine Festival and other community activities.
Chirgwin is survived by Kath, children Andrew, Marion, Peter and Michelle and six grandchildren.