Bert Newton funeral: Matthew Newton’s heartfelt tribute to his Dad

Matthew Newton’s last words and close relationship with his father Bert have been revealed in a letter which was read out at the entertainment icon’s state funeral.

A heartfelt letter from Matt Newton has been read to his father’s state funeral in Melbourne where the actor revealed their final words and the memories he will hold onto.

Matthew, an actor and director who is based in New York, is not attending the funeral.

Family friend Pete Smith said he had a 45 minute phone call with Matthew on Thursday, where he got the letter from which he read to the funeral.

“ I am very sorry that due to the pandemic, I can’t be with you all there to celebrate dad. Growing up, I never really watched Bambi or Snow White and the seven dwarfs or a lot of other kids movies you would name - I didn’t want to.

“What fascinated me were the movies that created that black and white glow radiating through the doorway of my dad’s home office. That’s where I wanted to be. So by the age of 10, my dad had introduced me to Humphrey Bogart, the Marx Brothers, Elisha Cook Junior, Abbott and Costello, Katharine Hepburn, Frank Sinatra and on and on,” Matthew’s letter read.

Bert and Patti Newton with their children Matthew and Lauren on Ford Superquiz. Picture: Channel 9

“They were our buddies and dad and I began a back-and-forth conversation about them that would continue without a break for the next 34 years. Swapping old showbiz stories and legends is how he and I, two Catholic Australian men of different generations, expressed our love. Expressed our love and affection for one another. Without having to actually say it all the time.”

Matthew said they exchanged stories over and over, not caring each other already knew them.

“They were the conversational equivalent of playing our favourite songs. We were jamming together and we loved it. It was our secret club. I remember proudly telling dad when I was a kid, hey, the books on my shelf in my bedroom other books on the shelf in your office, all about the same sort of things, to which he replied, “Absolutely. Of course, the other way of saying that is, Matthew, you still have my library”.

The funeral service heard Bert always wanted to “see another human being light up and laugh”.

Matthew Newton is in New York and unable to attend the funeral.

“I honestly believe that that was the thing, apart from his family, that made dad the happiest. It was a superpower and he always tried to use it for good. Over the last 10 years while I’ve lived abroad, Dad and I would play out conversational songs over Zoom and FaceTime, tools that allowed me to connect and in a way reconnect with my whole family, but especially with Dad. Everyone knows he was a great entertainer, but what a lot of people don’t know about dad was that he wouldn’t just be around for the laughs, those close to him experienced how he would show up in the tough times as well. No-one more than me.”

Matthew recalled his final conversation with his father, saying it was “different from the usual and we both knew it”.

Bert, Patti, Matthew and Lauren Newton on the beach at Mornington in the early 1980s.

Bert Newton and son Matthew in Melbourne in 1991. Picture: Newton family

“The change was never directly stated but we just said how much we loved each other. Doing this wonderful chat, my mother was pottering around in the background, adding her two cents every now and again and doing lovely things for Dad, as usual. At one point, she took something into another room and the second she left, dad leaned into the phone camera and whispered, ‘I think she is poisoning my food, Matthew’. Well, we both laughed and laughed until we cried.”

He continued: “Although given why we are here today Mum, perhaps I should have taken more seriously. As much as dad would have loved that tag, it really doesn’t work, Mum, because there is not a lioness in the world who loved, supported and cherished her lion as much as you did - You two were a team, are a team, and even though your partner is not on

stage anymore, this show goes on and you will be OK.”

Matthew told his Mum she would have his sister Lauren’s children to take care of her.

“Truly though, his grandkids became Dad’s new favourite thing on the planet. Sam, Eva, Monty, and Alby and all of them gave a new lease of life to him in his seventh and eighth decade. He likes to be called compere never presenter, a term he loathed. If he was here today, he would be entertaining, expertly saying all of the feelings of embarrassment, saving them from us. That is how he wanted this day to be, without a tear. So with that in mind, I will get out while the going is good. And the man himself, Albert Watson Wilberforce Thomas Belmont Belvedere John Aloysius Peter Newton, I will miss jamming with you mate. Here’s looking at you, kid...”