Steve Vizard
A shape-shifting Australian media entrepreneur who moved from sketch comedy to corporate boardrooms and academic research.
Born 1956 (age 70)·Australian businessman and television personality·Birthday: March 6·Baby Boomers
Biography
Steve Vizard's career is a study in restless reinvention. He first captured the Australian public's imagination in the 1980s as the co-creator and host of the groundbreaking sketch comedy show 'Fast Forward,' which skewered the nation's politics and pop culture with sharp, satirical teeth. His quick wit and legal training—he was a practicing barrister—made him a formidable presence. But Vizard wasn't content with just making people laugh. He pivoted into serious business, building a significant media empire through his production company and making strategic investments that cemented his status as a powerful, sometimes controversial, figure. His later life took another unexpected turn toward academia, where he engaged with research on ethics and corporate governance, applying his frontline experience to theoretical frameworks. His journey from television studios to university lecterns reflects a lifelong pursuit of influence across disparate fields.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Steve was born in 1956, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Steve Was Born
The biggest hits of 1956
#1 Movie
The Ten Commandments
Best Picture
Around the World in 80 Days
#1 TV Show
I Love Lucy
Steve's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1956Born
Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $10,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Heartbreak Hotel" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: Around the World in 80 Days
1961Started school
Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,500Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Tossin' and Turnin'" — Bobby LewisBest Picture: West Side Story
1969Became a teenager
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1972Could drive
Watergate break-in; last Apollo Moon mission
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $19,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" — Roberta FlackBest Picture: The Godfather
1974Could vote
Nixon resigns the presidency
Gas: $0.53/galHome: $22,600Min wage: $2.00/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"The Way We Were" — Barbra StreisandBest Picture: The Godfather Part II
1977Turned 21
Star Wars premieres; Elvis dies
Gas: $0.62/galHome: $31,800Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Tonight's the Night" — Rod StewartBest Picture: Annie Hall
1986Turned 30
Challenger disaster; Chernobyl nuclear meltdown
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $66,600Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"That's What Friends Are For" — Dionne & FriendsBest Picture: Platoon
1996Turned 40
Dolly the sheep cloned
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $99,700Min wage: $4.75/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Macarena" — Los del RioBest Picture: The English Patient
2006Turned 50
Twitter launches; Pluto reclassified as dwarf planet
Gas: $2.59/galHome: $174,700Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Bad Day" — Daniel PowterBest Picture: The Departed
2016Turned 60
Donald Trump elected president; Brexit vote
Gas: $2.14/galHome: $181,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Love Yourself" — Justin BieberBest Picture: Moonlight
2026Turned 70
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Co-created and hosted the influential Australian sketch comedy series 'Fast Forward' in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
- Built and led a major Australian television production and media business, Vizard Productions.
- Served as Chairman of the Victorian Arts Centre and the Australian Children's Television Foundation.
- Appointed as a research professor, focusing on corporate law and ethical leadership at Monash University and the University of Adelaide.
Did You Know?
He was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria in 1980.
Vizard was a board member of Telstra, Australia's largest telecommunications company, from 1996 to 2005.
He published a book on corporate ethics titled 'Two Weeks in Lilliput: Bear Hunting in the Boardroom.'
“The best satire holds a mirror up to the audience and makes them laugh at their own reflection.”
