John-Michael Howson was born on 8 August 1936 and is an Australian writer, reporter, entertainer and Melbourne radio commentator.
29 Facts About John-Michael Howson
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John-Michael Howson's parents separated when he was young and he moved to Western Australia with his mother and step-father.
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John-Michael Howson was educated at St Ildephonsus College, New Norcia, where he was a boarder.
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John-Michael Howson began his media career as a cadet reporter on Mildura's Sunraysia Daily.
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John-Michael Howson pursued his writing career with comedy scripts for live revues, stand-up comedians and television including the top British show That Was The Week That Was.
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John-Michael Howson became primarily known in television for his involvement in the acclaimed ATV-0 children's fantasy television series The Magic Circle Club in which he played Fee Fee Bear, and as Clown in the follow-up ABC show Adventure Island,.
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John-Michael Howson wrote the vast bulk of the scripts and the lyrics to the original songs used in them, the music usually composed by Bruce Rowland.
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John-Michael Howson contributed scripts and sketches to Graham Kennedy's In Melbourne Tonight and to The Mavis Bramston Show.
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In 1975, John-Michael Howson appeared as an over-attentive bellboy in the Australian movie Alvin Rides Again.
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In 1976, producer-director George Stamkoski filmed a documentary portrait of John-Michael Howson entitled "Hollywood Hollywood" with a grant from the Australian Film Commission.
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John-Michael Howson revealed the serious side of his acting skills in the 1976 ABC television adaptation of Frank Hardy's Power Without Glory.
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That same year, John-Michael Howson collaborated with Peter Pinne and Don Battye on the musical It happened in Tanjablanka, which was a spoof of Hollywood in the 1940s.
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In 1972, John-Michael Howson wrote What's in a name, a straight play on the subject of prejudice and intolerance in modern society, which was performed at St Paul's Cathedral in Melbourne.
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In 2007, it was reported that John-Michael Howson was collaborating on a new musical, Hotel Havana, with composer Jason Sprague.
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John-Michael Howson is sometimes referred to as "John-Michael 'Hollywood' Howson" when filing showbiz news reports, a nickname first coined by Mike Walsh when Howson began appearing on The Mike Walsh Show.
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John-Michael Howson's reports continued when the show was replaced by The Midday Show with Ray Martin.
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John-Michael Howson became well known for his flamboyant, clever and catty commentary on the celebrity A-list.
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John-Michael Howson reported for 3AW with Ernie Sigley, and remained a 3AW regular until his dismissal over controversial comments in November 2017.
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John-Michael Howson was a regular panelist on 3AW's Sunday morning program, 'Sunday Morning'.
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In February 2011, John-Michael Howson had an abusive on-air tantrum over the Seven Network's treatment of Opposition Leader and future Prime Minister Tony Abbott, in an interview with journalist Mark Riley.
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In 2016, John-Michael Howson used a derogatory term when discussing African gangs.
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John-Michael Howson told the Herald Sun, "I don't care if people think it was racist, it was a name that came into my head".
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In November 2017, John-Michael Howson went on a wild rant about "anti-coal nutjobs", suggesting climate change activists should kill themselves.
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John-Michael Howson was forced to apologise later that day and meet management to discuss broadcasting codes and content.
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John-Michael Howson was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours list "for service to the entertainment industry as a writer and performer".
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John-Michael Howson lived in the Melbourne suburb of Balaclava for many years.
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John-Michael Howson then moved to Los Angeles for 17 years and now holds dual US-Australian citizenship.
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In recent years, John-Michael Howson has been publicly open about his homosexuality, a subject about which he was previously very guarded, mainly due to his conservative Roman Catholic beliefs.
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John-Michael Howson is a patron of both the Melbourne Gay and Lesbian Chorus and of the St James the Great annual St Francis's Day Blessing of Animals.