Based: Cape Town
Graeme Richards is a South African actor, writer, television presenter and voice artist best known as a continuity announcer for SABC1 and later for SABC3.
He was the co-anchor of the e.tv breakfast news and actuality show, Sunrise, from 2008-2012 and in February 2012 left Sunrise to join the SABC3 breakfast show Expresso.
Career
Richards has extensive experience in television in the fields of presenting, script writing and copywriting.
In addition, he was the MC for the Miss South Africa (1998) and Miss SA Teen (1999) pageants, the live music Duku Duku awards (2000) and SA Fashion Week, among others.
Graeme began his television career presenting the kid’s show Mini TV, from July 1996 to February 1997. He became a presenter on Junior Topsport on TV3 (later SABC3) when he left school in 1996. The programme was later rebranded to SportsBuzz.
He was a Field Reporter for the Schools Soccer World Cup in Peru in 1997.
He joined the SABC1 continuity presenting team in 1998 and stayed there for two and a half years before leaving to start his own script and copywriting company.
While working as a freelance writer and voiceover artist he worked on numerous contracts, for shows including Felicia on E and People of the South.
He has also voiced a number of television commercials, for brands including First National Bank, Prima Toys, Mennen Speed Stick and Colgate/Palmolive.
He was the MC for the countrywide MTN Gladiator Road Shows in 1999/2000, and in 2000 he played a minor role, Cedric, in the action film Operation Delta Force 5: Random Fire, which filmed in South Africa.
In 2003 he played the recurring role of Richie in the SABC3 soapie Isidingo.
Later that year he joined the SABC3 continuity presenting team, replacing Ashley Dows, who left to pursue other interests. He remained with SABC3 until July 2007, when he and fellow presenters Irene Bester and Robyn Poole lost their jobs due to a channel branding restructure.
In May 2007 he played a small role in the direct-to-video action sci-fi film Starship Troopers 3: Marauder, which began principle filming on Table Mountain, Cape Town in that month. It will be released on DVD in the USA on 15 July, 2008.
The film also stars FHM hottie and third-placed Strictly Come Dancing 4 contestant Tanya van Graan, as well as established South African actor Anthony Bishop.
Also in 2007, Richards played the role of Chandler in the made-for-TV horror film Raven, based on the poem by Edgar Allan Poe. The film first aired in the USA on 24 August, 2007.
He has also acted in the television series Maximum Me (an educational programme) and the Neil Sundstrom-directed drama series Homeland (1997), which aired on the SABC.
Graeme co-anchored (with Sindy Mabe) e.tv’s breakfast show Sunrise, from Monday 31 March, 2008. The show replaced Morning Edition (previously known as The Toasty Show), airing every weekday from 06h00-08h00.
In February 2012 he left Sunrise to join the SABC3 breakfast show Expresso.
He was one of the celebrities to compete in the sixth season of the SABC3 reality competition Strictly Come Dancing, in 2013.