Michael Veitch

For other people named Michael Veitch, see Michael Veitch (disambiguation).

Michael Veitch
Born	29 November 1962 (1962-11-29) (age 48) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Occupation	Writer, comedian, actor

Michael Veitch (born 29 November 1962) is an Australian comedian, author and broadcaster, best known for his roles on the sketch comedy television shows The D-Generation, Fast Forward and Full Frontal, as well as for his books on Second World War aviation and the Bass Strait Islands.

Veitch emerged from the tradition of the University of Melbourne (where he completed an Arts degree) sketch comedy and revue. In 1985, the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) produced three locally-produced comedy series: The Gillies Report, Australia You're Standing In It and The D-Generation, the latter absorbing the current group of talent performing in Melbourne Uni revues. Veitch performed a wide variety of characters over two seasons of The D-Generation, a programme which eventually cemented among the annals of Australian comedy. Some of his characters included Kelvin Cunnington, a puerile young man obsessed with smutty innuendo (rumoured to be based on a real-life commercial radio host); Murray Beckworth, a semi-senile veteran of the Second World War; and many roles with Magda Szubanski. The D-Generation team eventually split, with half the team going on to produce The Late Show and form Working Dog Productions; Veitch was part of the group (including Jane Turner, Marg Downey and Magda Szubanski) which joined Steve Vizard's company to produce sketch comedy shows Fast Forward and Full Frontal.

As one of the lead performers on Fast Forward and Full Frontal, Veitch became known for his many impersonations of current personalities movie and TV icons such as Sonny (Skippy parody), Clive Robertson, Clive James, and particularly Wayne, the gay airline steward which he created and performed alongside Steve Vizard.^[1] In 2005, Veitch made a short-lived return to sketch comedy, appearing alongside former Fast Forward patrons Peter Moon and Marg Downey in Let Loose Live.^[2] The series was axed after 2 episodes, due to poor ratings.

From 2006 to 2009 he hosted Sunday Arts on the ABC; ironically, a role which he had performed in parody a decade before on Fast Forward.

Hailing from a family of journalists, Veitch wrote Flak – True stories from the men who flew in World War II^[3] published in 2006 by Pan Macmillan and later, Fly: True stories of courage and adventure from the airmen of World War II^[4] published by Penguin Australia in August 2008. A third book, exploring the islands of Bass Strait, was published by Penguin Australia in August 2011.

In 2010, Veitch moved to Hobart, Tasmania, to host afternoons on 936 ABC Hobart local ABC radio. With the retirement of Andy Muirhead pending legal proceedings, Veitch was given the breakfast program on the same station in June 2010, but returned to Afternoons as of January 2011.

He is the father of three children, Zoe (1987) and twins William and Thomas (1991).

Bibliography

• Veitch, Michael (2008) [2006]. Flak. Sydney, New South Wales: Pan Macmillan Australia. ISBN 9780330424080. OCLC 224762224. 
• Veitch, Michael (2009) [2008]. Fly. Camberwell, Victoria: Penguin. ISBN 9780143011941. OCLC 301793193. 

References

1. ^ Wood, Leonie Funny Business
2. ^ Wit or lose
3. ^ Flak!!
4. ^ Fly

External links

• Michael Veitch at the Internet Movie Database
• Profile at Sunday Arts

Persondata
Name	Veitch, Michael
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	29 November 1962
Place of birth	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Date of death
Place of death