Leslie Matthew Heath is a New Zealand actor, producer, radio host, sports commentator, columnist and musician. He played Danny Parker on ''

Back Of The Y Masterpiece Television ''Back of the Y'' (also known as ''Back of the Y TV'' during series 1 and ''Back of the Y Masterpiece Television'' during series 2), is a cult New Zealand television series, created by Chris Stapp and Matt Heath. The show glorified stunts and t ...

'' and Dick Johansonson in the feature film '' The Devil Dared Me To''. He was guitarist and singer for the 2000s band Deja Voodoo. He has worked on shows for

MTV2 MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. The channel launched initially as an all-music video service, once the original MTV had started to sh ...

in the UK and appeared on ''

Eating Media Lunch Eating Media Lunch (EML) was a satirical New Zealand news show hosted by Jeremy Wells. It aired on TV2 from 2003 to 2008. The show was frequently controversial during its run. Notable episodes In 2005 it shocked some viewers when it depi ...

''. Heath hosts the Matt and Jerry Breakfast Show with Jeremy Wells on Radio Hauraki. He has been a columnist for '' The New Zealand Herald'' since June 2014 and provides

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

commentary for The Alternative Commentary Collective. Heath runs the motion graphics company ''Vinewood Animation Studios'' with Philip Brough. In 2018, he co-hosted '' The Moment'' with Mike Lane on

TVNZ Duke TVNZ Duke ( mi, Te Reo Tātaki Tiuka), formerly Duke and stylized as TVNZ DUKE or DUKE, is a New Zealand television channel run by state broadcaster Television New Zealand. It screens programming targeted at a male audience. It was launched on 20 ...

throughout the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

. Heath is the author of a cookbook titled "The Best of Leslie's Kitchen".

Personal life

Born on the 20th of April, Heath was given the first name Leslie as a tribute to his mother's favourite actor Leslie Nielsen. Co-host Jeremy Wells announced Heath's legal name on the Hauraki Breakfast Show, prompting Heath to acknowledge while his birth certificate says Leslie, he goes by the name Matt and would like an apology. As a result of this, several listeners of the breakfast show submitted parodied songs making fun of Heath’s birth name. In a Twelve Questions interview with the ''New Zealand Herald'', Heath reveals his father Christopher Heath was in medicine, often referring to him as Doctor Heath during the Hauraki Breakfast radio show. Heath's mother taught languages at secondary level and he was the only boy in a family of 3 sisters. Heath has two children, Charlie and Barry Heath, with Lani Purkis. In 2018, Heath mentioned on his radio show that he was no longer together with Purkis. They currently reside in the suburb of Mount Eden in Auckland.

Television

Heath was a contestant in series 2 of Taskmaster NZ, a show hosted by his radio colleague, Wells.

References

External links

Vinewood Motion Graphics

The Alternative Commentary Collective
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Matt Heath
at NZ On Screen
Interview on Publicaddress.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heath, Matt Year of birth missing (living people) Living people New Zealand television personalities New Zealand radio presenters Radio Hauraki