Michael Gurr (29 October 1961 – 2 May 2017) was an Australian actor, playwright, author, speech writer and screenwriter.
Gurr was born in East Malvern, in Melbourne where his father was a kidney doctor at the Alfred Hospital and his mother was a nurse.
[1] His first published work was a fictional poem at age 10, from the point of view of a paraplegic, which unintentionally earned him a donation from a Herald Sun reader.
[2] Gurr studied at the National Theatre Drama School (NTDS) in St Kilda, Victoria, and while there wrote a number of short plays, which were sent to Ray Lawler, then Literary Advisor to the Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC).
He worked as a speechwriter for a number of years for John Brumby and Steve Bracks, both of whom became Labor Premiers of Victoria.