Maggie Tabberer on This Is Your Life

Maggie Tabberer (1936–2024) was in the public spotlight for more than 50 years. A leader in both fashion and the media, she maximized her appeal to become a true role model. 

Born Margaret May Trigar in December 1936 in Adelaide she started modelling at the age of 14, enrolling in a modelling academy owned by Jill Robb. At 23 she was discovered by leading German-Australian photographer Helmut Newton.

Maggie’s public profile led to a role in television, when asked if she would be interested in doing a pilot for a show called Beauty and the Beast. The panel show made Maggie a national star and she was offered her own show, Maggie, on Channel 7 from 1969 to 1970. In 1970 and 1971 Maggie won back-to-back Gold Logies for Beauty and the Beast, the first woman to win consecutive Logie awards.

Her popularity also led to freelancing work with radio 2GB and the ABC and she hosted several specials for network television. With a strong work ethic and commitment to her family, women, broadcasting and fashion, Maggie had many commercial contracts and a successful business when she launched her own fashion brand Maggie T, catering for plus-size women.

In 1981 she started her highly successful 15-year role as fashion editor for the Australian Women’s Weekly. Maggie was a driving force behind the presentation, production and coordination of the Weekly’s Australian Fashion Awards which ultimately won a High Distinction at the International Emmy Awards in 1982.

Maggie returned to television in 1990 with vigour after a 15-year break with The Home Show (1990-1993, ABC) co-hosted with her then partner Richard Zachariah. The show only lasted three years but Maggie soon launched Maggie… At Home With on Foxtel in 2001. In 2008 the series evolved into Maggie With, a show in which she interviewed famous Australians in their homes.

Maggie Tabberer used her outgoing personality, savvy business skills and entrepreneurial talents to secure a place as one of the most popular personalities and businesswomen in Australia. From her position of leadership in television, fashion and the media, she inspired several generations of Australian women.

Entry by Frances Baldwin edited and excerpted from The Encyclopedia of Women and Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia

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