20 Facts About Jeff Fatt

Jeffrey Wayne Fatt was born on 21 July 1953 and is an Australian musician and actor.

Jeff Fatt was a member of the children's group The Wiggles from its founding in 1991 to 2012, and was in the 1980s and 1990s pop band The Cockroaches with fellow Wiggle Anthony Field.

Jeff Fatt was the oldest member of the original Wiggles line up.

The second youngest of four, Fatt's Chinese parents Norma Wong Yee and Oscar Fatt owned a large retail store in Casino, New South Wales.

Jeff Fatt's great-grandfather immigrated to Sydney, Australia in 1896, becoming a prosperous banana businessman.

Jeff Fatt had aspirations to become an architect, and earned a Bachelor of Arts in industrial design.

Jeff Fatt opened a public address equipment business with his brother in Sydney when he began playing keyboard for the rockabilly band the Roadmasters, and was recruited by Anthony and Paul Field to join the Cockroaches.

Jeff Fatt joined the Cockroaches in 1981, serving as their keyboardist.

Jeff Fatt originated the Wiggles character Henry the Octopus and has occasionally voiced Wags the Dog, and performed those voices when other actors took over the roles.

Jeff Fatt was the only member of the Wiggles without a background in early childhood education; he stated that was the reason falling asleep was chosen as his schtick, "because it was a way of getting me involved in the shows without actually having to do anything".

Field claimed Jeff Fatt's schtick endeared Jeff Fatt to their audiences and called it "a simple audience participation and interaction gag we've done since the start of the group".

Anthony Field reported that although in the early days of the group, they took turns falling asleep, it became Jeff Fatt's schtick because "it was a perfect fit".

Jeff Fatt has made appearances in the newest Wiggles series, season 3 of Ready, Steady, Wiggle and has returned as the voice of Henry the Octopus.

Since 1990, Jeff Fatt has taken a photo a day documenting the most eventful thing that has happened to him.

Jeff Fatt was liquidated in 1925 due largely to the Canton-Hong Kong strike, where they returned to Sydney, Australia in 1938.

Jeff Fatt's paternal great-great-grandmother, Elizabeth Wright, was born in Middlesex, England and arrived in Melbourne, Australia in 1853 as a domestic servant.

In early July 2011, Jeff Fatt underwent heart surgery after feeling unwell for several weeks and having a blackout.

Jeff Fatt was diagnosed as having a heart arrhythmia and was fitted with a pacemaker at Sydney's Mater Hospital.

Jeff Fatt's surgery was "urgent but routine" and Fatt was expected to recover completely.

Jeff Fatt missed the summer US tour as a result, after never missing a show in 20 years.