BORN
Oct. 8, 1939, in Parramatta, Sydney (Lightning Ridge, New South
Wales, Australia)
Actor who had been active in the Austrailian entertainment
industry for years before coming to the attention of American
audiences in the title role of Crocodile Dundee (1986) and its
sequel (1988). He won a Golden Globe for that performance, and
was nominated for an Oscar for helping to write the screenplay.
He developed and starred in The Paul Hogan Show (1973–84) and
starred in the British film Hogan in London (1975) before
turning his hand to writing. He married his Crocodile Dundee
co-star, Linda Koswalski, in 1990, the same year that their
third film together, Almost an Angel, was released. Though he
continues to work in films, Hogan has become familiar as the
voice of Australia in advertisements for the Australian tourist
industry, Subaru Outback, and Fosters beer.
Paul
Hogan as Michael J Crocodile Dundee
The former pool lifeguard, union organizer and Sydney Harbour
Bridge scaffolder who stumbled onto the telly in 1972 when his
workmates dared him to enter a talent show. That character (who
never wore a suit save in jest; who talked, Hogan said,
"like the guys down at the pub"; and who could spot a
poser a mile off) was assertively working-class, unashamedly
Australian, and enormously popular. As Hoges the footy-loving
pub philosopher of The Paul Hogan Show, and as Michael J.
"Crocodile" Dundee, the bushman who conquers New York
with a grin, a "G~day" and a big knife, Paul Hogan
made himself into an emblem of Australianness--and sold it to
the world.
Thirteen years after its release, Crocodile Dundee remains the
most successful Australian film ever made. Its $328 million
gross was the 10th biggest in history (it still ranks a
creditable 56th). The "Yanks" and "Poms,"
whose influence on Australian life had made them favorite butts
of Hogan~s quietly patriotic humor, adored Dundee~s relaxed
machismo, his naive goodheartedness. And their enthusiasm made
Australians--always anxious about their international
image--wildly enthusiastic about themselves. "Australia has
a new roving ambassador," cheered Sydney~s Daily Mirror,
"the phenomenally successful Crocodile Dundee, otherwise
known as Paul Hogan. And every one [of his interviews] is a plug
for Australia--a positive, bright, breezy Australia bristling
with energy and talent."
Hogan~s countrymen lost no time living up to the advertising:
travelers proudly broadened their accents, salted their speech
with Aussie colloquialisms, and said "G~day" instead
of "Hi." On a visit to the U.S., Prime Minister Bob
Hawke introduced himself as the leader of "Crocodile Dundee
country." His allusion to the Marlboro cigarette
commercials was apt. In Dundee, Hogan had created a hero who
personified Australians~ most marketable qualities, a brand
image the nation would rejoice in, and rebel against, for a
decade.
Paul
Hogan and Linda Kozlowski
That triumph was no accident. Ever since TV producer John
Cornell had spotted Hogan sending up the judges on New Faces and
hired him as a humorous editorialist for the news show A Current
Affair, the duo had been building up the Hoges persona like the
prizefighter Hogan had once briefly been. As their ambitions for
their asset grew, from a big-city audience to a national and
then an international one, they used carefully chosen bouts of
advertising to gauge Hoges~ market punch. Everything they lent
his guileless grin to scored a knockout. Winfield cigarettes
became (and remain) the most popular brand in Australia;
Foster~s lager became the second-biggest-selling beer in
Britain; American tourist visits to Australia doubled in four
years in the wake of Hogan~s "shrimp on the barbie"
ads. As well as proving Hoges~ appeal in untried markets, each
campaign added a new inflection to his likable-larrikin persona.
By the time filming on Crocodile Dundee began, Hogan could say
confidently: "We know there~s a market demand for this type
of product, and we are supplying that product."
That didn~t sound much like happy-go-lucky Hoges. But then
Hogan, whom acquaintances describe as an astute businessman with
little time for fools, was, as he conceded, "a bit smarter
than I make out on the old telly." And as he zoomed further
from his "ordinary bloke" origins--divorcing Noelene,
his wife of 30 years, to marry his American Dundee costar, Linda
Kozlowski; spending long periods in Los Angeles; even having a
face-lift--Hogan became less and less willing to play the
working-class hero (except in his films, which critics panned as
lame remakes of Crocodile Dundee). "I~m not the little
Aussie battler any more," he protested in 1996. "If I
can have a Rolls-Royce, I~ll have a Rolls-Royce. That~s the
whole point of it."
Australians are also growing impatient with the Hoges/Dundee
image, which is widely seen as too Anglo-Celtic, too laid-back,
too philistine, too yesterday. "Me and Hoges have a lot in
common," Hogan once said. "Neither of us gives a
bugger what people think." Australia hasn~t quite reached
that level of insouciance, but (with a self-confidence that owes
much to Mick Dundee) it is now striving to project a truer
image: to be seen as smarter, more entrepreneurial, more
ambitious, more...like Hogan. The new Australianness may have
less appeal at the box office, but as a pub philosopher or a
simple bushman might say, you can never go wrong just being
yourself.
1972 Makes TV debut on New Faces, finishing as runner-up in
grand final
1972 Starts eight-year run as pitchman for Winfield
1973 Makes first of 60 Paul Hogan Shows
1981 First Foster~s beer commercials shown in U.K.
1984 Australian Tourist Commission ads start in U.S.
1986 Crocodile Dundee is released
1990 Marries Linda Kozlowski
8
October 1939
Lightning
Ridge, New South Wales, Australia
Filmography
as: Actor, Writer,
Producer, Himself,
Archive Footage, Notable
TV Guest Appearances
Actor
- filmography
(2000s) (1990s)
(1980s)
-
Strange
Bedfellows (2004) .... Vince Hopgood
-
Crocodile
Dundee in Los Angeles (2001) .... Michael J. 'Crocodile'
Dundee
-
Floating
Away (1998) .... Shane
-
Flipper
(1996) .... Porter
-
Lightning
Jack (1994) .... Lightning Jack Kane
-
Almost
an Angel (1990) .... Terry Dean/Bonzo Burger Man
-
'Crocodile'
Dundee II (1988) .... Michael J. 'Crocodile' Dundee
-
Crocodile
Dundee (1986) .... Michael J. 'Crocodile' Dundee
... aka 'Crocodile' Dundee (USA)
-
"Anzacs"
(1985) (mini) TV Series .... Pvt. Pat Cleary
... aka Anzacs: The War Down Under
-
Fatty
Finn (1980) .... Third Delivery Man
Filmography
as: Actor, Writer,
Producer, Himself,
Archive Footage, Notable
TV Guest Appearances
Writer
- filmography
(2000s) (1990s)
(1980s) (1970s)
-
Crocodile
Dundee in Los Angeles (2001) (characters)
-
Lightning
Jack (1994) (written by)
-
Almost
an Angel (1990)
-
'Crocodile'
Dundee II (1988) (characters) (written by)
-
Crocodile
Dundee (1986) (screenplay) (story)
... aka 'Crocodile' Dundee (USA)
-
Hogan
in London (1975) (TV)
-
"The
Paul Hogan Show" (1973) TV Series
Filmography
as: Actor, Writer,
Producer, Himself,
Archive Footage, Notable
TV Guest Appearances
Producer
- filmography
(2000s) (1990s)
(1980s)
-
Crocodile
Dundee in Los Angeles (2001) (producer)
-
Lightning
Jack (1994) (producer)
-
Almost
an Angel (1990) (executive producer)
-
'Crocodile'
Dundee II (1988) (executive producer)
Filmography
as: Actor, Writer,
Producer, Himself,
Archive Footage, Notable
TV Guest Appearances
Himself
- filmography
(1990s) (1980s)
(1970s)
-
Thank
Ya, Thank Ya Kindly (1991) (TV) .... Himself
-
The
59th Annual Academy Awards (1987) (TV) .... Himself -
Co-host
-
Olympic
Gala (1984) (TV) .... Himself
-
Hogan
in London (1975) (TV) .... Himself
-
"The
Paul Hogan Show" (1973) TV Series ....
Himself/Various
-
"A
Current Affair" (1971) TV Series .... Himself
(1971)
Filmography
as: Actor, Writer,
Producer, Himself,
Archive Footage, Notable
TV Guest Appearances
Archive
Footage
-
The
100 Greatest TV Ads (2000) (TV)
-
Sale
of the Century: 15th Anniversary (1995) (TV) ....
Himself ("Sale of the Week" sketch)
-
Oscar's
Greatest Moments (1992) (V) .... Himself
Filmography
as: Actor, Writer,
Producer, Himself,
Archive Footage, Notable
TV Guest Appearances
Notable
TV Guest Appearances
-
"Extra"
playing "Himself" 15 October 2003
-
"Enough
Rope with Andrew Denton" playing
"Himself" (episode # 1.10) 19 May 2003
-
"TV
total" playing "Himself" 19 June 2001
-
"The
Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn" playing
"Himself" 24 April 2001
-
"Rove
Live" playing "Himself" (episode # 2.6)
27 March 2001
-
"Biker-Jens
Down Under" playing "Himself" (episode #
1.13) 2001
Flipper
dvd cover
TRIVIA
-
Paul
Hogan was listed as one of twelve Promising New Actors of
1986 in John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 38.
-
Had
a variety of jobs before coming to notice in 1972 on NEW
FACES, a television talent show. This success led to his own
comedy television series, THEPAUL HOGAN SHOW, the following
year.
-
Awarded
the Australian Honours award of Member of the Order of
Australia.
-
Awarded
Australian of the Year in 1985.
-
Lives
in a renovated Victorian farmhouse near Santa Barbara,
California. (2001)
-
Was
given a Subaru Outback by the car company for his
appearances in their car commercials.
-
Nominated
for Best Actor at BAFTA Awards for CROCODILE Dundee (1987)
-
Nominated
for Best Original Screenplay at BAFTA Awards for CROCODILE
DUNDEE (1987)
-
Nominated
for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly at Academy
Awards for the screen for 'CROCODILE' DUNDEE (1987)
-
If
Australia has a human face in the American popular mind, it may
well be the smiling, deeply lined visage of Paul Hogan. Less as
an actor than a personality, this lean, tanned and weathered-
looking former construction worker--nicknamed "Hoges"--represented
the Land Down Under in a series of ads for the Australian
Tourist Commission that enticed more than 600,000 Americans
abroad.
Audiences
found him earnest, likeable and down-to-earth. Hogan parlayed
these qualities into international stardom as the co-writer and
star of "'Crocodile' Dundee" (1986), a hugely
successful comedy adventure depicting the adventures of an
Outback outdoorsman in New York City. This unpretentiously
old-fashioned comedy was a smash hit that won Hogan a Golden
Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy, an Oscar nomination for the
original screenplay and a BAFTA (British Academy of Film and
Television Arts) Award nomination. It also generated a
successful sequel, "'Crocodile' Dundee 2" (1988),
which Hogan co-scripted and executive produced. Together the
films grossed over $500 million.
Hogan's
unlikely entertainment career began at age 31 when he wrote to a
TV talent show representing himself as a rural tap-dancing knife
thrower. Hogan was invited on by the producers, presumably to
make a fool of himself. Instead, he won national attention with
a blistering satire of that very show. This triumph led to
numerous other appearances, including a regular stint as a comic
commentator on "A Current Affair", a nightly magazine
news show.
Hogan
boosted his exposure with "The Paul Hogan Show"
beginning in 1977 and a series of TV specials filmed in England
starting in 1983. He began proving his mettle as a TV pitchman
with a series of award- winning commercials for Foster's Lager
in the United Kingdom. Prior to the release of "'Crocodile'
Dundee", Hogan displayed dramatic chops in
"ANZACS", a popular Australian TV miniseries set
during WWI. 5 Hogan's Hollywood career stumbled after the
blockbuster success of the "Crocodile Dundee"
films.
The
sentimental comic fantasy "Almost An Angel" (1990), in
which he played a burglar slain during a heroic act and given a
chance to redeem his soul, was a commercial disappointment. The
genial Western comedy "Lightning Jack" (1994) also
failed to register at the box-office. Hogan took a different
tack with the family picture "Flipper" (1996), sharing
the spotlight with the teen-aged former child star Elijah Wood
and a remarkable sea-going mammal. Hogan was well cast as the
colorful bohemian uncle to whom the youth is sent to spend the
summer.
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