• Music of 1963
• Radio in 1963
• TV in 1963
• Movies of 1963
• Books of 1963
• Postwar Cars
• Vietnam in 1963
• 1963 Memorabilia

Lyndon Johnson


Martin Luther King Jr

• Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak and Sabah form the Federation of Malaysia.
• Douglas-Home PM of England
• Profumo scandal undermines the Conservative government in Britain.
• John F. Kennedy assassinated
• Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald is shot and killed by Jack Ruby.
• Lyndon B. Johnson President of US
• Paul V1 succeeds John XX111 as Pope
• Martin Luther King, Jr. makes his "I Have a Dream" speech
• Erhard replaces Adenhauer as Chancellor of W Germany
• British spy Harold (Kim) Philby defects to the USSR.
• First space flight by a woman (Valentina Tereskova)
• First Porsche 911 produced
• Australian population passes 11,000,000
• 3 weeks annual leave granted in Australia
• First cassette recorder
• "Trolls" (ugly goblin-like dolls with frizzy hair) popular

The Profumo Affair
In 1961, John Profumo, who was the British Secretary of State for War in Harold Macmillan's government, had an afair with Christine Keeler who the newspapers described as a call girl. The two were introduced by a prominent oesteopath and artist, named Stephen Ward.
In 1962, Keeler become involved with a Jamaican drug dealer named Aloysius "Lucky" Gordon. When that relationship ended Gordon attacked her with an axe and held her hostage. As a result, a former boyfriend of Keeler's. Johnny Edgcombe, attacked Gordon and wounded hom with a knife.
When Keeler told Edgecombe that she would give evidence against him for wounding Gordon, Edgecombe plotted to murder her. The case eventually got to court and Profumo's relationship with Keeler was revealed. But Profumo denied it in Parliament.
The counter-intelligence agency, MI5, questioned Keeler and became suspicious because, although she was very ignorant of current affairs, she seemed to know about nuclear missiles. They became convinced that Keeler had had a relationship with Yevgeny "Eugene" Ivanov, a senior naval attaché at the Soviet embassy, who was using her to get secret infromation from Profumo.
In the end, Profumo was convicted of perjury, Stephen Ward (who had introduced Profumo and Keeler) was found dead, officially by suicide but, according to conspiracy theories, murdered to prevent him disclosing more damaging information, and Harold Macmillan resigned due to "ill health".


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The Music of 1963

• Go away Little Girl (Steve Lawrence)
• Sukiyaki (Kyu Sakamoto)
• Dominique (Singing Nun)
• I Will Follow Him (Little Peggy March)
• It's My Party (Lesley Gore)
• If You Wanna Be Happy (Jimmy Soul)
• If I Had a Hammer (Peter, Paul & Mary)
• Blowing in the Wind (Bob Dylan/Peter, Paul & Mary)
• Blue Bayou (Roy Orbison)
• Summer Holiday (Cliff Richard)
• Walk Right In (Rooftop Singers)
• Hey Paula (Paul & Paula)
• Walk Like a Man (Four Seasons)
• Surf City (Jan & Dean)
• Wipeout (Surfaris)
• Surfin' USA (Beach Boys)
• How Do You Do It? (Gerry & Pacemakers)
• I Like It (Gerry & Pacemakers)
• Do You Love Me? (Brian Poole)
• She Loves You (Beatles)
• I Wanna Hold Your Hand (Beatles)
• Can't Buy Me Love (Beatles)
• Move Baby Move (Johnny O'Keefe)

Australian Radio in 1963

• The Children's Hour - Argonauts' Club (1941-69)
• The Quiz Kids (1942-early 60s)
• The Air Adventures of Biggles(1945-60s)
• When a Girl Marries (1946-65)
• Pick-a-Box (1948-71)
• Blue Hills (1948-76)
• Dr Paul (!949-71)
• Portia Faces Life (1952-70)
• Life with Dexter (1953-64)
• Eric Baume's This I Believe (1953-67)
• Keith Smith's Pied Piper (1954-60s)
• The Children's Hour - The Muddleheaded Wombat (1957-71)

Television in 1963

The Nelsons	1952-66	cast
Father Knows Best	1954-63	cast
Lassie	1954-72
Gunsmoke	1955-75	cast
Have Gun Will Travel	1957-63	cast
Perry Mason	1957-65	cast
Pick-a-Box	1957-71
(Australian) Bandstand	1957-72
77 Sunset Strip	1958-63	cast
The Rifleman	1958-63	cast
Rawhide	1958-66	cast
The Black & White Minstrel Show	1958-78
Dennis the Menace	1959-63	cast
The Untouchables	1959-63	cast
Dr Finlay's Casebook	1959-65
Alfred Hitchcock Presents	1959-65
Bonanza	1959-71	cast
Route 66	1960-63
Ben Casey	1960-65	cast
The Flintstones	1960-65	cast
Mr Ed	1960-65	cast
The Andy Griffiths Show	1960-68	cast
Z Cars	1960-78
My Three Sons	1960-71	cast
Dick van Dyke Show	1961-65	cast
Dr Kildare	1961-66
The Avengers	1961-69	cast
Four Corners	1961-current
McHale's Navy	1962-65
Combat!	1962-67	cast
The Beverly Hillbillies	1962-70	cast
Steptoe & Son	1962-65, 70, 72 & 74	cast
Burke's Law	1963-65
My Favourite Martian	1963-65
The Outer Limits	1963-65
The Fugitive	1963-66	cast
The Saint	1963-68	cast
Petticoat Junction	1963-69
Dr Who	1963-93, 2005-current	cast

Movies in 1963

Title	Cast	Academy Awards	Buy
Billy Liar directed by John Schlesinger	Julie Christie Tom Courtenay Wilfrid Pickles Mona Washourne Ethel Griffies Finlay Currie
The Birds directed by Alfred Hitchcock	Rod Taylor Tippi Hedren Suzanne Pleshette Jessica Tandy Veronica Cartwright Ethel Griffies
Charade directed by Stanley Donen	Cary Grant Audrey Hepburn James Coburn
Cleopatra directed by Joseph L. Mankewcz	Elizabeth Taylor Richard Burton Rex Harrison Pamela Brown	Best Art & Set Direction Best Cinematography Best Costume Design Best Visual Effects
Hud directed by Martin Ritt	Paul Newman Patricia Neal Melvyn Douglas	Best Actress Best Supporting Actor Best Cinematography
Irma la Douce directed by Billy Wilder	Shirley Maclaine Jack Lemon Lou Jacobi	Best Score (adaptation)
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World directed by Stanley Kramer	Spencer Tracey Milton Berle Ethel Merman	Best Sound Effects
The Pink Panther directed by Blake Edwards	Peter Sellers David Niven Robet Wagner
Tom Jones directed by Tony Richardson	Albert Finney Susannah York Hugh Griffith Diane Cilento Dame Edith Evans	Best Picture Best Director Best Score (original) Best Screenplay

Watch a free movie from 1963 now:

• The Terror With Jack Nicholson & Boris Karloff, and partly shot by Francis Ford Coppola.
• McLintock! Comedy Western starring John Wayne & Maureen O’Hara. Loosely based on Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.
• Breathdeath Cutout animation film that inspired Terry Gilliam and ended up on his list of The 10 Best Animated Films of All Time.
• The Critic Mel Brooks animation features an old Yiddish watching abstract animations. Hilarious film won Oscar.
• Why Man Creates Saul Bass’ Oscar-winning animation on the nature of creativity

Books of 1963

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (a James Bond book)	Ian Fleming
Cat's Cradle	Kurt Vonnegut
The Collector	John Fowles
Shoes of the Fisherman	Morris West
The Group	Mary McCarthy
The Bell Jar	Sylvia Plath
The Garden Party	Vaclav Havel
Letting Go	Phillip Roth
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch	Alexander Solzhenitsyn
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold	John le Carre
A Canticle for Leibowitz	Walter Miller Jr
Planet of the Apes	Pierre Boule
The Game Players of Titan	Kurt Vonnegut

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