Sir Donald Bradman’s family breaks its silence on ‘Australian Story’

Sir Donald Bradman’s family breaks its silence on ‘Australian Story’
6 HOURS AGO JULY 27, 2015 3:28PM


DESPITE being Australia’s most legendary cricketer, Sir Donald Bradman was deeply uncomfortable with the fame that came along with it.
Refusing media requests and ill at ease with the hero worship of fans, it saw him protect his home life fiercely.
So it’s no wonder that living in the public eye wasn’t on the agenda for subsequent Bradman generations.

Stepping out of the shadows ... Tom, John and Greta Bradman tell all for the first time on Australian Story tonight. Source: ABC

But tonight they are finally breaking their silence on living with “The Don” as Bradman’s granddaughter, a classical singer, is on the cusp of international stardom herself.
Fourteen years on from her grandfather’s death, Greta Bradman is being fostered by Sir Dame Joan Sutherland’s husband, conductor Richard Bonynge.
And it turns out that her love for music was inspired by Sir Don.
“My grandpa was hugely into music,” she reveals on the episode of Australian Story airing tonight.
“He composed music. He also had a very large record collection and he was really interested in certain sopranos and certain conductors. He and I would sit and listen to his record collection and talk about it.”

Family man ... Sir Donald Bradman pictured with John and his sister Shirley in 1948.

Both Sir Don and his late wife, Lady Jessie Bradman, were a huge part of their grandchildrens’ upbringing, including being daily after-school carers for Greta and her brother Tom.
But despite the fierce love he had for his progeny, Sir Don’s dislike of public attention meant that he missed seeing Greta perform on stage.
“Grandpa wouldn’t come to school concerts and things like that because he really just wasn’t comfortable with, you know, people kind of staring at him,” Greta told Australian Story.
“He didn’t want anything to be different for me.”
Fan frenzy ... The attention of his fans made Sir Don Bradman feel uneasy, his family say

That attitude also extended to Greta’s father, John, who changed his last name to Bradsen in order to avoid the relentless attention he received via his legendary dad.
“[It wasn’t] to pretend I was somebody other than who I was, but simply to say to people, ‘please give me a break’,” John explains on the ABC show.
However after splitting with Greta and Tom’s mother, John was with a new partner and about to have his third child. Sir Don’s health was also declining
It was then, he says, that he decided to change his family’s name back to Bradman and reclaim their birthright. And it was a moment that brought the cricketing legend much joy, say the Bradman family.

“When I told him [we were changing our name back to Bradman] he just smiled and said — you know, don’t do it for me,” says John of the conversation.
“My grandpa was truly tickled pink,” adds Greta.