Cyril Pearl was educated at Scotch College, Melbourne, and Hale College, Perth, before entering the University of Melbourne in the 1930s. Here he studied Russian and Philosophy, and edited Farrago, the university newspaper.
While at university, Pearl founded and edited the little magazine Stream. Stream was self-consciously un-Australian, drawing inspiration from a European aesthetic in reaction to the conservative nationalism of main-stream magazines. Few well-known writers contributed to Stream (Nettie Palmer being the notable exception) and much of the magazine comprised of translations of articles first published in European magazines. But, failing to find a significant audience the magazine ceased production after the third issue.
After university, Pearl pursued a long and successful career in journalism. He was editor of the Melbourne Star (1933-1936), foundation editor of the Sunday Telegraph (1939-1949), editor of A.M. (1949-1954) and the Sunday Mirror (1960-1961). He also wrote several books of social history and biography, including The Girl With the Swansdown Seat (1955), an informal report on mid-Victorian morality; The Victorian Era, 1850-1900 (1971); Victorian Patchwork (1972); Our Yesterdays : Australian Life Since 1853 in Photographs (1954); Anzac Newsreel : A Picture History of Gallipoli (1963), Hardy Wilson and His Old Colonial Architecture (1970); and Dublin in Bloomtime : The City James Joyce Knew (1969). He also wrote Rebel Down Under : When the "Shenandoah" Shook Melbourne, 1865 (1970) and Five Men Vanished : The Bermagui Mystery (1978). Pearl also wrote the script for the short documentary film, Anzac (1960).
Always controversial, Pearl faced libel charges for Wild Men of Sydney (1958) and he was mentioned in parliament for derogatory remarks about public servants in the satirical So You Want to Be an Australian (1959). The Dunera Scandal (1983), his story of Jewish refugees interned during World War II, was subsequently produced as a telemovie. Pearl married in May 1965 and travelled to China and England.
In later years, Pearl was a well-known newspaper columnist and appeared regularly on the television panel show Tell the Truth.
