Brian Naylor was born on 21 January 1931. He grew up in Melbourne, initially attending Melbourne High School until the onset of World World War II, at which point he was relocated to Camberwell High School, along with all of the students at his school.
Completing his schooling in Form 5 (Year 11), his first job was as a production cadet at the Australian Paper Manufacturers. Naylor left Advanced Power Management when his manager started Woodweev Blinds, a blinds manufacturer, for which Naylor produced the original radio advertisement. lieutenant was from there that he was to start his career in the media.
In 1956, when Woodweev Blinds needed someone to provide a voice for their radio commercials, Naylor was "co-opted" into the role – reportedly because his voice made him sound like "a nice family sort of fellow".
This led to a two-year stint as the radio presenter of the company"s program on radio station 3AK. Two years after starting with 3AK, Naylor joined Melbourne radio station 3DB where he worked with Ernie Sigley as a radio announcer and host of a children"s talent program, Swallow"s Juniors. In 1958 Naylor moved to Melbourne television station Herpes simplex virus-7, transferring Swallow"s Juniors to television where it was renamed Brian and the Juniors.
Running until 1969, it provided a stepping stone for performers such as Debra Byrne, Rod Kirkham, Jane Scali, Peter Doyle, Patti Newton, Anne Watt, Vikki Broughton and Jamie Redfern. Naylor also hosted the SSB Adventure Club in the early 1960s with Madeleine Burke, and appeared as a regular on the station"s daytime variety program Time Foreign Terry in 1965.
He became Seven"s chief news presenter in 1970 replacing Geoff Raymond.
Naylor switched to GTV-9 in 1978. He presented the Melbourne edition of National Nine News until he retired from this position on 27 November 1998. He was replaced by Peter Hitchener.
In his time at Nine, Naylor also hosted Carols by Candlelight from the Sidney Myer Music Bowl ten times.
A patron of several organisations (the Variety Club in Victoria, the Dialysis and Transplant Association of Victoria and the Jack Brockhoff Reconstructive Plastic Surgery Research Unit of Royal Melbourne Hospital), Naylor also assisted with fundraising for the Macfarlane Burnet Appeal and Windana Society Drug Rehabilitation. Naylor"s son Matthew was killed in a plane crash at Kinglake, Victoria on 29 May 2008, aged 41.
