Mike Willesee was the father of Amy and Michael Willesee Jr.
25 Facts About Mike Willesee
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Mike Willesee's niece is cyclist and author Janet Shaw, Terry's biological daughter.
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Mike Willesee first came to prominence in 1967 as a reporter for then-new nightly current affairs program This Day Tonight, where his aggressive style quickly earned him a reputation as a fearless political interviewer.
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Mike Willesee figured prominently in the controversy that erupted over the decision in early 1967 by the Liberal government, led by Prime Minister Harold Holt, not to reappoint the ABC chair Dr James Darling.
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Mike Willesee then moved to the Nine Network, where he hosted A Current Affair when it debuted in 1971.
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Mike Willesee joined the Seven Network in 1975 and hosted the first Australian version of This Is Your Life.
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Mike Willesee presented a nightly current affairs program called Willesee at Seven which claimed a victory over A Current Affair in the same timeslot and led to that program being axed in 1978.
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Mike Willesee was known for a long-running friendship with a disabled boy named Quentin Kenihan, who had osteogenesis imperfecta.
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Mike Willesee was known for sparring with the Orange People, who recruited in Australia during the 1980s.
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Mike Willesee returned to Nine in 1984 to revisit the nightly current affairs genre with Willesee as well as producing specials for the network, winning a Logie for Most Popular Documentary in 1986.
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One of the most significant interviews conducted by Mike Willesee was the famous Birthday Cake Interview in 1993, with then leader of the Liberal Party, John Hewson.
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Mike Willesee's unrelenting questioning along with Hewson's indecisive answers and his frequent stuttering made it appear that Hewson had little understanding of one of his own major policies.
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In 1993, Mike Willesee received public outrage for his controversial action of interviewing, via phone, two young children, a brother 11 and his sister 9 who were being held hostage, during the 1993 Cangai siege.
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Mike Willesee is remembered by many Australians for the night when, filling in for Jana Wendt on A Current Affair, he fronted the show while appearing to be under the influence of alcohol.
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Mike Willesee claimed he was on medication, tired and emotional.
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Mike Willesee has reported on religious topics, and in 1998, he made a report entitled Signs From God on the appearance of stigmata displayed by a woman, Katya Revas, in Bolivia.
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In 1999, Mike Willesee won the Bent Spoon Award from the Australian Skeptics for Signs From God.
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The rationale for Mike Willesee receiving the award was that the show was "seeking to capitalise on the irrational millennial fears of many people".
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In 2002, Mike Willesee became the 19th inductee into the TV Week Logies Hall of Fame.
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On 21 August 2006, Mike Willesee appeared on Andrew Denton's TV show Enough Rope and spoke about his dedication to discovering what science can ascertain about the Shroud of Turin; specifically, whether it contains the blood of Jesus Christ.
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In 2012, Mike Willesee joined the Seven Network's Sunday Night to do high-profile interviews.
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In 2017, Michael Mike Willesee spoke about his battle with throat cancer on the TV program Australian Story.
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Mike Willesee revealed how he had returned to his Catholic faith after years away from the Church.
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On 1 March 2019, Mike Willesee died of throat cancer in Sydney, Australia at the age of 76.
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Mike Willesee married and divorced three times, to Joan Stanbury, Carol and Gordana, and had six children, including Michael Willesee Jr.