Richard Wilkins (TV presenter)

Richard Wilkins AM
Wilkins at the 2014 ARIA Music Awards, Sydney, 26 November 2014
Born	Richard Stephen Wilkins 19 June 1954 New Zealand
Residence	Sydney, Australia
Other names	Richard Wilde, Dickie
Occupation	Television presenter
Years active	1987–2018
Known for	Nine Network & Today Entertainment Editor (1994–present) Sydney New Year's Eve (1995–1998); (2000–2006) Crumb of the Year (2015)

Richard Stephen Wilkins, AM (born 19 June 1954), is a New Zealand-born Australian television presenter. He is currently Entertainment Editor for the Nine Network and Today.

Early life

Wilkins was born in New Zealand in 1954, where he graduated from teacher's college, majoring in English and Music. Using the name "Richard Wilde" he became an aspiring pop singer. PolyGram signed him to a worldwide deal, but he had little chart success.^[1]

In 1980 he brought his band Wilde And Reckless to Australia. He released some singles and a six track EP, and toured with Grace Jones. He left the music stage - and his eyepatch - to work behind the scenes as Promotions and Marketing Manager for Sydney radio stations 2Day FM and 2UW (now known as KIIS 106.5). He then moved into television.

Career

Wilkins was the original host of Australian series of MTV when it was broadcast on Nine, hosted a game show called Keynotes in 1992. Keynotes at the time was a summertime replacement for Sale of the Century. In 1999 he hosted the Australian version of Entertainment Tonight and for almost ten consecutive years since inception (minus the 1999–00 event), hosted the Sydney New Year's Eve telecast.

Wilkins files daily reports on Today, presents the Nine Network's coverage of The Academy Awards, and covers the Oscars and Golden Globe red carpets and other special events.

In 2006 he returned to the stage, winning acclaim for his role as Vince Fontaine in the mega-production "Grease: the Arena Spectacular".

On 16 April 2007, on Today, he was paid tribute for his 20 years service to the Nine Network and footage of his involvement over the years was aired.^[2]

On 7 July 2007, Wilkins presented at the Australian leg of the Live Earth concert.

Reporting live on the deaths of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson on 26 June 2009, Wilkins erroneously reported the death of actor Jeff Goldblum on Today, although later in the program this was verified as a hoax.^[3][4] This was later joked about by Goldblum himself and Stephen Colbert on The Colbert Report.^[5]

In September 2011 he released his autobiography Black Ties, Red Carpets, Green Rooms. By December 2011, the book was a best seller, reaching #1 status.

In May 2012, Wilkins started on smoothfm. He is currently the host of weekend Mornings (10am – 12pm) on smoothfm 91.5 in Melbourne and smoothfm 95.3 in Sydney.^[6]

In 2012, he celebrated 25 years in television.^[7]

Honours

In the 2014 Queen's Birthday Honours List, Wilkins was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM), for "significant service to the community through a range of charities, and to the entertainment industry".^[8]

References

1. "Richard Wilkins". Today official website. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
2. "Tribute to Richard". Today official website. 2007-04-16. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
3. "Richard Wilkins's massive Jeff Goldblum blunder on Today". livenews.com.au. 2009-06-26. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
4. Hurst, Daniel (2009-06-26). "Website hoax: Jeff Goldblum not dead". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
5. "Goldblum Lives! Or, The Trade In Celebrity Death". theenthusiast.com.au. 2009-07-09. Retrieved 2010-12-24.
6. "DMG Radio rebrands stations for gap in market".
7. Reines, Ros (15 April 2012). "Richard Wilkins celebrates dramatic milestone of 25 years in television". The Sunday Telegraph. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
8. "The Queen's Birthday 2014 Honours List" (PDF). 8 June 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2014.

External links

• Richard Wilkins on Twitter
• Richard Wilkins at the Internet Movie Database