Early years Molloy grew up in the
Australian Capital Territory (ACT) before moving to
Melbourne in the 1980s. He attended
The Peninsula School during his high school period and then studied performing arts at the
University of Melbourne, where he wrote and performed in his first live act in 1987. It was there he met the Australian comedy troupe
The D-Generation (the future cast of
The Late Show) who later formed
Working Dog Productions, and with whom Molloy would collaborate on several projects.
Television Molloy worked with the D-Generation as a writer-performer on their 1988
Seven Network specials (he had auditioned for the D-Gen in 1986 but it was not until the troupe saw him in the 1987 Melbourne University revue,
Laminex on the Rocks, that they signed him). He also worked as a writer on the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC)
The Gerry Connolly Show (1988), the
Network Ten series
The Comedy Company in its 1989 season and, while working on the (unscreened) pilots for
The Late Show, for the
Nine Network (1990). Molloy was a cast member of ABC TV's
The Late Show (1992–1993) as a writer and performer. As well as pairing up with Tony Martin for each episode's introduction and the "Street Interviews" segment, Molloy co-hosted the segments "Muckrakers" with
Jason Stephens and "Commercial Crimestoppers" with
Santo Cilauro. He played the thick-witted assistant of stuntman
Rob Sitch in "Shitscared" and performed in many other sketches (providing the voices of Sergeant Olden in
The Olden Days and Chief Chromedome in
Bargearse). He also delivered a series of volatile rants in the "Mick's Serve" segment of
Late Show News. Molloy landed his own late-night TV show,
The Mick Molloy Show, which premiered on the Nine Network in 1999. Planned to run for twenty episodes, it was slated by the critics and cancelled after eight. His next involvement with television was the show
Any Given Sunday, with
Nicole Livingstone, on the Nine Network in 2006. He was involved in the
2006 Commonwealth Games coverage on the Nine Network as a commentator for the lawn bowls events. In 2007, Molloy filmed a pilot of
The Nation, a weekly late-night news-based comedy hour on the Nine Network. The show debuted on 5 June but struggled for ratings, attracting 575,000 viewers nationally for its fourth show. Originally it was on Tuesdays at 9:30 pm, but was moved to Wednesdays at 10:30 pm and ended in August 2007. In 2008, it was announced that Molloy would replace
Peter Helliar on the panel of Channel 10's
Before the Game, an AFL themed show, after Helliar had discontinued his position post-2007. On the show, his views as a keen supporter of the
Richmond Football Club (Tigers) were often made clear. Molloy is one of the club's more prominent supporters and as well as appearing on
Before the Game he has appeared in club membership advertising campaigns. In June 2008, Molloy made comments on the show regarding Nicole Cornes, the wife of former Adelaide coach
Graham Cornes, in which he suggested she had slept with footballer
Stuart Dew. Nicole Cornes sued the
Ten Network for
defamation and was awarded
A$85,000 in July 2011. Molloy remained with
Before the Game until it was axed at the end of the 2013 AFL season. In 2009, Molloy starred in the sitcom
The Jesters which aired on Movie Extra on Foxtel. He played a veteran comic Dave Davies who has become the manager of a group of young, rookie comedians and who has to cope with the behind-the-scenes antics of producing a comedy sketch show. A second series aired in 2011. In February 2010, it was announced that Molloy and
Eddie McGuire would be investigated by the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board following complaints that their on-air coverage of the
2010 Winter Olympics men's figure skating contained homophobic remarks. The complaint was later withdrawn after the complainant met with McGuire. In February 2014, it was announced by the Seven Network that Molloy would be joining its one-hour AFL match preview show on Saturday nights during the football season. In 2015, Molloy was announced as a host of an online show called
Friday Front Bar (subsequently renamed to
The Front Bar). In 2016, Channel 7 picked up the show.
Radio After writing and performing on
The D-Generation Breakfast Show on
Triple M Melbourne, from 1990 to 1992, Molloy teamed up with
Tony Martin for Triple M's
Bulltwang (1990) After
The Late Show finished, Molloy developed, again with Martin, the successful
Austereo radio programme,
Martin/Molloy (1995–98), which produced three
ARIA award-winning compilation albums,
The Brown Album (1995),
Poop Chute (1996) and
Eat Your Peas (1998). Molloy occasionally appeared with his former D-Generation cohorts on Network Ten's
The Panel (1998–2004). Molloy hosted another radio show,
Tough Love (2004–06) on
Triple M alongside
Robyn Butler and
Richard Molloy. In 2011, Molloy returned to radio and to Triple M Melbourne, as a permanent member of
The Hot Breakfast. He is also appearing daily at 6:50am on Triple M Brisbane's
The Grill Team. In July 2017, Triple M announced that Molloy would host a new national drive show with
Jane Kennedy across the
Triple M network in 2018. As a result, he transitioned away from
The Hot Breakfast and was replaced by
Wil Anderson. Molloy finished on
The Hot Breakfast on 6 October 2017 and debuted on the new show,
Kennedy Molloy, the following week. In January 2025, Molloy rejoined Triple M Melbourne to front a new breakfast show,
Mick in the Morning, with
Nick Riewoldt, Titus O’Reily and Rosie Walton.
Film Following the cancellation of
The Mick Molloy Show, Molloy returned with a video release, entitled
Shonky Golf with Mick Molloy, and he directed the feature-length documentary
Tackle Happy (2000). He played Kim's dad Gary Poole on
Kath & Kim (2003–04) and co-starred, with
David Wenham, in two
Murray Whelan telemovies,
Stiff and
The Brush-Off (both 2004). He has starred in three movies,
Crackerjack (2002) (which he also co-wrote, receiving an AFI nomination), Tony Martin's
Bad Eggs (2003), and
BoyTown (2006), which, like
Crackerjack, he co-wrote with his brother
Richard Molloy. During production of the DVD-release for
Boytown in 2007, Molloy and his long-time collaborator Tony Martin had a dispute over the proposed extra content for the DVD and the two have not worked together since. In the 2006 Australian feature film
Macbeth, Molloy played Brown; it was the second time he has appeared in a production of Macbeth. He also had a role in the 2019 biographical film based on
Michelle Payne's life,
Ride Like a Girl. ==Personal life==