Lisbeth Joanne "Libbi" Gorr (born 24 March 1965) is an Australian broadcaster working in both TV and radio. Gorr is also an author, voice artist, writer and performer. She first came to prominence with the satirical television character that she created called "

Elle McFeast Elle McFeast is an Australian television character created by comedian Libbi Gorr. The character appeared in several shows during the 1990s, beginning with the ABC series '' Live and Sweaty'' in 1991. The character became the host of the show in ...

Early life

Gorr was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

into a

Jewish Australian Judaism is a minority religion in Australia. 99,956 Australians identified as Jewish in the 2021 census, which accounts for about 0.4% of the population. This is a 9.8% increase in numbers from the 2016 census. There are many estimates of how ...

famil

grew up in Murrumbeena and was educated at the Methodist Ladies' College. She began working in comedy while she was an arts and law student at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb n ...

. Gorr graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws in 1988. After graduation she became an

articled clerk Articled clerk is a title used in Commonwealth countries for one who is studying to be an accountant or a lawyer. In doing so, they are put under the supervision of someone already in the profession, now usually for two years, but previously three ...

with the Melbourne law firm Phillips Fox. Gorr had her first regular media job as the voice of the Sportsgirl fashion chain when she was asked to "sound" like a photo of supermodel Elle Macpherson. She also performed with the Hot Bagels, an all-women cabaret group.

Television

As the character Elle McFeast, Gorr performed in a number of award-winning television shows, including Andrew Denton's '' Live and Sweaty''. She hosted ''Live and Sweaty'' for another two years after his retirement from the show in 1993, becoming the first woman to host a Sports /comedy Tonight show in Australia. in 1995 Libbi Gorr created McFeast: Live from the Bowels of Parliament House. This was a weekly 30 minute political satire / comedy show. The final credits featured Gorr dancing on the desks of Australian parliamentarians to “She’s so fine”, by the Easybeats. It ran for two seasons. As McFeast she also created 14 TV specials, including ''Breasts'', ''Sex, Guys and Videotape'', ''Portrait of a Power Pussy'' and the television show ''Elle McFeast Live''. Gorr made the transition to appearing as herself on camera hosting the ''Marie Clare'' "What Women Want" forums, and the televised ''IF'' awards for film in Australia. In 2001 a portrait of her, called "Excelle – Libbi Gorr", by painter Margarita Georgiadis, was entered in the

Archibald Prize The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, the editor ...

for portraiture. The painting was hung as a finalist. A photographic portrait by Petrea Hicks was also hung the following year. In 2003 she performed a live show "''Dirty Sweet Cherry on Top''!" at the Sydney Opera House In 2007 Gorr hosted the short-lived Channel Nine show ''

The Catch Up ''The Catch-Up'' was an Australian daytime live television talk show on the Nine Network created by Mia Freedman. The show featured a panel of women as co-hosts, with Libbi Gorr, Zoe Sheridan, Mary Moody and Lisa Oldfield. It premiered on 26 Fe ...

''. The program, a revised version of the American program '' The View'', ran for only four months before being cancelled due to poor ratings. Gorr, however, received positive reviews. Gorr has contributed to '' Studio 10'' on

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

as a studio panellist and Melbourne correspondent. In 2016, Gorr began presenting stories as a guest reporter for the ABC flagship current affairs program ''

7.30 ''7.30'' is an Australian nightly television current affairs program which broadcasts on ABC and ABC News at on Monday to Thursday nights. The program is currently hosted by Sarah Ferguson. History The program first aired on 7 March 2011, re ...

''.

Radio and journalism

In January 2012, Gorr joined ABC Radio Melbourne as host of the Sunday morning program. She also regularly hosted ''Breakfast'' when Red Symons was the main presenter and on leave. In December 2021, Gorr announced her resignation from ABC Radio Melbourne to pursue her creative interests. Her last show on ABC Radio Melbourne was on 19 December 2021.

Books

Gorr has authored two books for Harper Collins, ''The A–Z of Mummy Manners: An Etiquette Guide for Managing Other Children's Mothers and Assorted Mummy Dilemmas'' (2011) and ''The Bedtime Poem For Edible Children'' illustrated by Bradley Trevor Greive (2012).

Personal life

Gorr's partner is freelance producer and director Stewart Burchmore (brother of actor Rhonda Burchmore). They have two children and live in Melbourne.

References

External links

*
774 ABC Melbourne: Libbi Gorr profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gorr, Libbi 1965 births Australian women comedians Australian Jews Australian television actresses Australian television personalities Women television personalities Journalists from Melbourne Actresses from Melbourne Jewish Australian writers Jewish Australian actresses Jewish Australian comedians People educated at Methodist Ladies' College, Melbourne University of Melbourne women People from Murrumbeena, Victoria Australian women radio presenters Radio personalities from Melbourne Living people