Friends rally to honour Hey Hey It’s Saturday star Russell Gilbert

Russell Gilbert was a Hey Hey It’s Saturday star and stand-up comedy favourite before quietly disappearing from public life — but a new show is highlighting his talent.

A two-part special will highlight the career of Hey Hey It’s Saturday comedian Russell Gilbert.

Russell Gilbert was one of Australia’s much-loved comedians, gracing the screen with his Hey Hey It’s Saturday crew and a favourite on the stand-up comedy circuit.

Then he vanished.

Shattered by the tragic death of his partner of 19 years, Rochelle Nolan, in 2015 the Footscray larrikin retreated from public life and hit hard times.

There were fears for him after he went missing after he was unable to find the strength to attend Nolan’s funeral.

Soon after, Gilbert was rushed to hospital with a brain aneurysm and suffered a stroke while undergoing emergency surgery to treat the deadly blood clot.

Russell Gilbert suffered a stroke while undergoing emergency surgery to treat the deadly blood clot.

The comedy community he so adored rallied around him, with friends Dave Hughes and Anthony “Lehmo” Lehmann creating a fundraiser to help pay for weekly treatments to improve his speech and memory.

While he is often spotted around his St Kilda home, he was not a part of the highly successful 50th anniversary special of Hey Hey It’s Saturday with Daryl Somers because of health reasons.

Now Somers, along with the help of some of Gilbert’s close comedy friends, including Mick Molloy, have created a two-part special The Best of The Russell Gilbert Show, to air on Channel 7 from this Wednesday to highlight the comedy rascal’s career.

“Russell Gilbert should be recognised as one of the greats of Australian comedy,” said Somers. “He lit up the scene from ’86 onwards through his first appearance on Hey Hey, then as a regular on The Comedy Company and back to Hey Hey for over a decade as a vital part of the ensemble,” Somers said.

“These two specials highlight the breadth of his talents, such that 25 years on they are still laugh out loud funny. It’s just so sad that health problems shortened his career.”