Australian actor, comedian, and TV presenter Shaun Micallef has been active in the industry since 1987. Over the course of his long career, he’s amassed a body of work that’s the envy of his peers, spanning TV, film, stage, radio, comedy, music, and literature. The popular entertainer recently celebrated his 10th season anniversary on Mad As Hell, the topical news- comedy show that catapulted him to mainstream success and won him a firm place in the nation’s heart. To find out more, keep reading.
1. His favorite film is It’s a Wonderful Life
If asked to name his favorite film of all time, Micallef would have no hesitation in answering. Chief amongst his movie pleasures is the 1939 classic starring James Stewart and Claudette Colbert, It’s a Wonderful Life. The film has become something of a fixture in the Micallef household, with the whole clan gathering around every Christmas to watch it one more time. “It’s a sort of ritual in my house,” Micallef told the Guardian. “I’ve got three sons, and when they hit about 15 we sit down and watch it together. It’s a thing we do. The second boy is about ready. It’s such a great film.”
2. He’s a convert to social media
These days, most comedians use social media as a way of bringing in new fans and keeping existing fans interested. Micallef used to be the exception to the rule, telling the Guardian back in 2014 that he refused to get involved in social media in case he spends the rest of his life apologizing for something he says (or rather, tweets), and because of the limitations of the format. “Coming up with a joke in 140 characters, it’s too much pressure. I would waste too much time,” he said at the time. Micallef has since come to revise his opinion, and these days is quite the active tweeter.
3. He’s a keen cook
When he’s not on TV, Micallef can quite often be found rustling up something delicious in the kitchen. A devoted fan of Asian cuisine, Micallef’s signature dish is a green chicken or red beef curry. Things don’t always go to plan, however, and he’s had one or two culinary catastrophes over the years. “Once, I tried a green red curry and a chicken beef curry, but that didn’t work,” he told the Gourmet Traveler. “I also once tried a curry curry red green with a side order of chicken beef, but that was a disaster. Matt Preston gave it a two.”
4. He dreamt of becoming a priest
As a child, Micallef planned on quite a different career to the one he eventually settled on. Inspired by the Marist brothers who ran the Catholic boy’s school he attended in Adelaide, the young Micallef briefly flirted with the idea of becoming a priest- an idea that bit the dust when puberty hit. “I told my religious master that I was interested in becoming a priest and he said, ‘Give it a couple of years’,” he told the Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/jan/18/stairway-to-heaven). “Then adolescence really hit and the calling just fell away.”
5. He’s not afraid to voice his opinions
Recently, ABC incited the wrath of Mad As Hell fans when it aired the wrong episode of the popular news show. Rather than broadcast that week’s episode, ABC made the embarrassing blunder of repeating the previous week’s by mistake. Furious viewers took to Twitter to vent their frustration- with Micallef quickly following suit. “My wife is ringing the ABC switchboard. I rang ITV. Hopefully we’ll at least get the right one up on iview. It’s a good episode too. Nice and topical. Maybe they’ll play it next week. #madashelltv #idiots,” he joked.
6. He was a lawyer
Before his career in entertainment, Micallef was employed in a very different field altogether. After studying law at the University of Adelaide, Micallef spend a decade as a practicing solicitor with a specialism in insurance law. After dreaming for years of pursuing his ambition of becoming a full-time comedian, the entertainer finally decided to abandon law in favor of showbiz in 1993.
7. He has three kids
Micallef has been married to Leandra, a lawyer and the owner of Ziggurat, a Melbourne design store, for 30 years. The couple share three children who’ve grown up watching their father entertain the masses on TV. With one son currently pursuing a law degree and the other studying for a film and television course, Micallef has been keen to encourage his kid’s ambitions, no matter what they are. “As far as I’m concerned your kids can do anything they want to do,” he told the New Daily. “If they find something they love you’ve got no choice but to support them.”
8. He’s won several awards
Micallef has enjoyed huge critical success over his years in showbusiness and has managed to scoop several awards over the last 2 decades. In 2008, he won the Aria Award Best Comedy Release for The Expurgated Micallef Tonight: The Very Best of Shaun Micallef’s Short-Lived but Brilliant Tonight Show. 2 years later in 2010, he bagged the Most Popular Presenter Award at the Logie’s for his work on Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation. In 2012, meanwhile, he received the distinction of being named Comedian of the Year at the GQ Men of the Year Awards.
9. He’s an author
As much as he’s a firm fixture on our screens, Micallef also occupies a place in many of our bookcases. In 2004, the multi-talented entertainer released his first book, a series of essays, plays, poems and sketches entitled Smithereens. In 2010, he released the novella Preincarnate, swiftly followed by The President’s Desk in 2014, Tales from a Tall Forest in 2017, and The Uncollected Plays of Shaun Micallef in 2017.
10. He’s appeared on stage
Micallef hasn’t limited his talents to the small screen. In addition to his numerous TV performances, he’s also kept theater audiences happy with his various stage work, gracing productions of Boeing Boeing in 2008, Good Evening – Sketches from Dudley Moore and Peter Cook in 2010, and The Odd Couple in 2016.
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