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Paul Hogan

Royal Charity Concert 1980 (cropped Hogan).jpg
Hogan at the Royal Charity Concert in 1980
Born (1939-10-08) 8 October 1939 (age 84)
Occupation
  • Actor
  • comedian
  • producer
  • writer
Years active 1971–present
Spouse(s)
Noelene Edwards
(m. 1958; div. 1981)
(m. 1982; div. 1989)
(m. 1990; div. 2014)
Children 6

Paul Hogan AM (born 8 October 1939) is an Australian actor and comedian. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his performance as outback adventurer Michael "Crocodile" Dundee in Crocodile Dundee (1986), the first in the Crocodile Dundee film series.

Early life

At the start of his career, Paul Hogan claimed he was born in Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, to appear more interesting. He was actually born in Parramatta, a suburb in Greater Western Sydney.

He moved to Granville in Western Sydney at a young age and worked as a rigger on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. He attended both Primary and High School at Parramatta Marist High School.

Career

Hogan's first public appearance was on Australian television, the Nine Network's amateur talent programme New Faces in 1971. Hogan had observed to his Harbour Bridge workmates that the programme's entertainment value relied significantly on the judges ridiculing and belittling the performers, and suggested the judges deserved similar treatment. Hogan inveigled his way onto the programme by claiming to be a "tap-dancing knife-thrower". Hogan appeared on stage in his work boots, holding elaborate prop "knives," and proceeded to make a series of jokes at the judges' expense; he finished by performing a rudimentary shuffle and throwing the knives onto the floor. Strong positive response from the viewing public saw Hogan invited back for repeated performances on New Faces; in another of these, he proposed to "play the shovels", which consisted of making a series of jokes before banging two shovels together a few times. Hogan's natural ability as a comedic performer attracted the attention of Mike Willesee, host of Nine's news magazine program A Current Affair. Willesee offered Hogan regular appearances on the series, during which Hogan would make humorous comment on some issue of the day. During this time, Hogan befriended A Current Affair producer John Cornell, who became Hogan's manager and business partner.

Hogan followed this with his own comedy sketch programme The Paul Hogan Show, which he produced and wrote, and in which he played characters with Cornell and Delvene Delaney. The series, which ran for 60 episodes between 1973 and 1984, was popular in the UK, where it aired on the new Channel Four from 1982 and also in South Africa, and showcased his trademark lighthearted but laddish ocker humour. Hogan won the 1973 TV Week Logie Award for 'Best New Talent'. The early series was on Channel Seven and, by 1975, it was screened on Channel Nine where it remained until the end of 1984.

During the early 1980s, Hogan filmed a series of television ads promoting the Australian tourism industry, which aired in the United States. An advertisement with the phrase "shrimp on the barbie", which aired from 1984, was particularly successful.

In 1985, Hogan appeared as an Australian World War I 'digger' named Pat Cleary in the mini-series Anzacs, which aired on the Nine Network. Cleary was described as the quintessential Aussie larrikin, and series writer John Dixon wrote the part of Cleary with Hogan in mind. The series included a "who's who" of Australian television and film actors of the day, including Jon Blake, Andrew Clarke, Megan Williams, Tony Bonner, Bill Kerr, Ilona Rodgers, Vivean Gray and Robert Coleby.

Hogan's breakout role was that of Mick "Crocodile" Dundee in the 1986 film Crocodile Dundee. Hogan also co-wrote the movie, which was a massive critical and commercial success in many countries. He won the 1987 Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and was also nominated for Best Actor at the BAFTAs. The screenplay was nominated for an Academy Award, a BAFTA and a Saturn Award. Along with Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn, Hogan co-hosted the 59th Academy Awards, also in 1987. Hogan again portrayed Mick Dundee in the sequel Crocodile Dundee II, released in 1988. Hogan was also executive producer and co-writer with his son, Brett. Although less popular with critics than the first Crocodile Dundee, it was still a commercial success. The character made him popular in the United States, with phrases like, "That's not a knife... that's a knife!" entering the lexicon, though Hogan was troubled that the character was perceived as a cross between Chuck Norris and John Rambo, and turned down roles similar to those because of their violent nature, commenting:

"The movie scene is screaming out for the movie hero who doesn't kill 75 people...less of those commandos, terminators, ex-terminators and squashers. Mick's a good role model. There's no malice in the fellow and he's human. He's not a wimp or a sissy just because he doesn't kill people."

In the early 1990s, a Paramount executive pitched a concept of a Crocodile Dundee and Beverly Hills Cop crossover movie. Hogan refused the starring role in the hit film Ghost, choosing instead to make Almost an Angel (1990). In 1994, Hogan co-produced, wrote and starred in the Western comedy film Lightning Jack. In 1996, he starred in a remake of the 1963 film Flipper, a family-friendly movie about a dolphin. In 1998, he co-starred in the made-for-TV drama Floating Away, an adaptation of the Tim Sandlin book Sorrow Floats.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Hogan was featured in advertisements for the Subaru Outback. In 2001, Hogan returned to the role that made him famous with Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles.

In 2004, Hogan starred in the Australian-produced comedy film Strange Bedfellows, about two firemen pretending to be in a homosexual relationship for financial benefit. Strange Bedfellows was written and directed by Hogan's friend Dean Murphy and was the highest-grossing Australian-made film of 2004. 2005 saw the release of Paul Hogan – Stand Up Hoges, a DVD compilation of Hogan's favourite live performances throughout his career. In 2009, Hogan starred in another of Murphy's films, Charlie & Boots, a road-movie concerning the relationship between a father (Hogan) and son (Shane Jacobson). It was the second-highest-grossing Australian-made film of 2009, after Mao's Last Dancer.

In 2013, 2014 and 2015, Hogan embarked on live stand-up performances throughout Australia. The 2013 tour entitled An Evening with Hoges featured capital cities only, but the 2014 tour Hoges: One Night Only featured 25 locations including regional Australia. 2015's Hoges: Live saw performances in Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney only. Some of this material was shown in the 2014 documentary Hanging with Hoges, in which Hogan was interviewed about his life and career by Jacobson.

In 2016, Hogan received the Longford Lyell Award for an outstanding contribution to the Australian screen. Hogan joked he had only ever been a "one-hit wonder".

Australia's Seven Network commissioned a two-part miniseries based upon Hogan's life, entitled Hoges: The Paul Hogan Story which aired in February 2017. Australian actor Josh Lawson portrayed Hogan. In 2019, to celebrate Hogan's upcoming 80th birthday, Australia's ABC produced a two-part episode of Australian Story, entitled "A Fortunate Life – Paul Hogan", in which Hogan and his family reflect on his life and career.

Following on from a 2018 Tourism Australia campaign, in 2020 Hogan starred in The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee, with Hogan portraying himself as an aging, out-of-touch movie actor with his legendary character Mick Dundee now monetised and manipulated by others.

In 2023, Hogan took part in a live TV roast entitled The Roast of Paul Hogan.

Honours

  • In 1986, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) "for service to tourism and entertainment".
  • In 1987, Hogan won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Musical or Comedy for Crocodile Dundee.
  • In 2016, Hogan received the Longford Lyell Award, the highest honour of the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA), for outstanding services to the Australian screen.

Logie Awards

The Logie Awards is an annual gathering to celebrate Australian television, sponsored and organised by magazine TV Week, with the first ceremony in 1959, known then as the TV Week Awards, the awards are presented in 20 categories representing both public and industry voted awards.


Year Nominee / work Award Result
1973 himself George Wallace Memorial Logie for Best New Talent Won

Mo Awards

The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016.

Year Nominee / work Award Result (wins only)
1988 Paul Hogan Australian Showbusiness Ambassador Won

Personal life

Hogan and his first wife, Noelene Edwards, married in 1958. They separated and divorced in 1981 and remarried less than one year later. A second divorce, initiated in 1986, was considered one of Australia's ugliest celebrity divorces. Hogan married his Crocodile Dundee co-star Linda Kozlowski in 1990. He has five children with his first wife and one with his second wife. In October 2013, Kozlowski filed for divorce from Hogan, citing irreconcilable differences, with the divorce finalised in 2014.

Filmography

Acting

Year Title Role Notes
1973–84 The Paul Hogan Show Playing different characters TV series
1980 Fatty Finn Third Delivery Man
1985 Anzacs Lance Corporal Pat Cleary Mini-series, also known as Anzacs: The War Down Under
1986 Crocodile Dundee Michael J. 'Crocodile' Dundee Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
1988 Crocodile Dundee II
1990 Almost an Angel Terry Dean/Bonzo Burger Man
1994 Lightning Jack Lightning Jack Kane
1996 Flipper Porter
1998 Floating Away Shane
2001 Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles Michael J. 'Crocodile' Dundee
2004 Strange Bedfellows Vince Hopgood
2009 Charlie & Boots Charlie
2018 That's Not My Dog! Himself
2020 The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee Himself

Writing

Year Title Notes
1973 The Paul Hogan Show TV series
1975 Hogan in London TV
1986 Crocodile Dundee Screenplay and story (with Ken Shadie and John Cornell)
Nominated – Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay
Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay
Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Writing
1988 Crocodile Dundee II with Brett Hogan
1990 Almost an Angel
1994 Lightning Jack

Producing

Year Title Notes
1988 Crocodile Dundee II Executive producer
1990 Almost an Angel Executive producer
1994 Lightning Jack Producer
2001 Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles Producer

Himself

Year Title Notes
1971 A Current Affair TV series
1973 The Paul Hogan Show TV series
1975 Hogan in London TV
1984 Olympic Gala TV
1987 59th Academy Awards Co-host
1991 Thank Ya, Thank Ya Kindly TV
2013 Adam Hills Tonight Guest
2023 The Roast of Paul Hogan TV special

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Paul Hogan para niños

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