| John Michael "Hollywood" Howson | |
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| Born | John Michael Howson 1936 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
John Michael Howson (often written as John-Michael Howson) OAM, born in Melbourne, Australia in 1936, is an Australian writer, reporter and entertainer. His involvement in the Australian entertainment scene as a writer, producer and performer spans more than 40 years.
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Howson began his media career as a cadet reporter on Mildura's Sunraysia Daily[1].
In 1964, he was invited to write topical material for the fledgling Melbourne television station ATV-0 and specifically for their new variety programme The Ray Taylor Show.
He became primarily known in television for his involvement in the acclaimed ATV-0 children's fantasy television series The Magic Circle Club (1965-67) in which he played Fee Fee Bear (his face never seen on camera due to the bear suit), and as Clown in the follow-up ABC show Adventure Island (1967-72). Howson, with Godfrey Philipp, was co-creator of both shows. Howson wrote the vast bulk of the scripts (five 30-minute shows per week) and the lyrics to the original songs used in them, the music usually composed by Bruce Rowland. Owing to Howson's intense workload, many of the Adventure Island scripts were written on a typewriter positioned behind the set.
Howson also contributed scripts and sketches to Graham Kennedy's In Melbourne Tonight and to The Mavis Bramston Show. His 1965 Bramston "Flower arranging" sketch - in which a section of Constance Spry's definitive text book on the subject is quoted verbatim in a lascivious manner by the Chief Censor (Gordon Chater) to hilarious and scandalous effect - created a national uproar and remains a television classic.
In 1975, Howson appeared as an over-attentive bellboy in the Australian movie Alvin Rides Again.
He revealed the serious side of his acting skills in the 1976 ABC television adaptation of Frank Hardy's Power Without Glory.
During the 1980s Howson starred in Houseboat Horror, an Australian feature film shot to videotape, and often included on lists of the worst movies ever made.
Howson's book I Found It At The Flickers was published by Horwitz Grahame Books in 1985.
He 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. His reports continued when the show was replaced by The Midday Show with Ray Martin. Howson became famous for his flamboyant, clever and catty commentary on the celebrity A-list and for the professional respect he attracted from many big-name Hollywood stars.
Determined to further his writing career, Howson moved to West Hollywood but remained a reporter for Network Ten's Good Morning Australia with Bert Newton. He also reported for 3AW with Ernie Sigley, and remains a 3AW regular.
Shout! The Legend of The Wild Onel, a stage musical about the life of singer Johnny O'Keefe, was co-written by John-Michael Howson, Melvyn Morrow and David Mitchell, and made its premiere in Melbourne in the early 2000s. With the same team, Howson also co-wrote a musical about Dusty Springfield called Dusty - The Original Pop Diva.
He is currently working on a new musical Pyjamas in Paradise, about teenage parties at Surfers Paradise, Queensland and a musical about Bobby Darin which is soon to be workshopped in Melbourne.
John-Michael (he prefers his two first names to be hyphenated and always signs correspondence and autographs this way) lived in the Melbourne suburb of Balaclava during his most productive years in television. He moved to Los Angeles for 17 years and now holds dual US-Australian citizenship.
He relocated back to Melbourne, Australia following the success of Shout where he lives with his Guatemalan partner, Alfie, and their three dogs.
In recent years, John-Michael has been publicly open about his homosexuality, a subject about which he was previously very guarded.
He is a Patron of the Melbourne Gay and Lesbian Chorus.
John-Michael Howson was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours list.
   | ABC interview - Talking Heads - John-Michael Howson |
| | Melbourne Gay and Lesbian Chorus - Melbourne Gay and Lesbian Chorus |
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