Paul Hogan

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.[3]

He moved to Granville in Western Sydney at a young age and worked as a rigger on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.[4] He attended both Primary and High School at Parramatta Marist High School.[5][6][7]

Hogan's first public appearance was on Australian television, the Nine Network's amateur talent program New Faces in 1971.[8] Hogan had observed to his Harbour Bridge workmates that the program'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 program 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 program 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'.[9] The early series was on Channel Seven and, by 1975, it was screened on Channel Nine where it remained until the end of 1984.

In the 1970s, Hogan advertised Winfield cigarettes in television, print and billboard advertisements in which he wore a formal dinner suit. These ads always ended with the catchphrase "Anyhow, have a Winfield." 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.[10]

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.

Throughout the decade, Hogan appeared on British television in advertisements for Foster's Lager, in which he played an earthy Australian abroad in London. The character's most notable line (spoken incredulously at a ballet performance) "Strewth, there's a bloke down there with no strides on!", followed Hogan for years, and the popularity of its "fish out of water" humour was repeated with his next endeavour. In another advertisement from the same Foster's series, Hogan's character is approached in a London Tube station by a Japanese tourist who asks, "Do you know the way to Cockfosters?" (referring to an area in North London), to which Hogan replies (with a puzzled look on his face): "Drink it warm, mate."

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 also 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."[11]

In the early 1990s, a Paramount executive pitched a concept of a Crocodile Dundee and Beverly Hills Cop crossover movie.[12] Hogan refused the starring role in the hit film Ghost, choosing instead to make Almost an Angel (1990).[13] 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, and in which he played 'Shane', a recovering alcoholic.[14]

Wax figure of Hogan as Crocodile Dundee

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.[15][16]

In 2013, 2014 and 2015, Hogan embarked on live stand-up performances throughout Australia.[17] 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".[18]

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.[19]

Following on from a 2018 Tourism Australia campaign,[20] 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 1985, Hogan was named Australian of the Year.[21][22]

• In 1986, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) "for service to tourism and entertainment".[23]

• 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.

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.[25] Hogan married his Crocodile Dundee co-star Linda Kozlowski in 1990. He has five children with his first wife and one with his latest wife. In October 2013, Kozlowski filed for divorce from Hogan, citing irreconcilable differences,[26] with the divorce finalised in 2014.[27]

Wikiquote has quotations related to Paul Hogan.

• Paul Hogan at IMDb
• Paul Hogan at AllMovie
• Biography of Paul Hogan's film career
• Laughterlog.com article with complete list of Paul Hogan Shows
• Paul Hogan at the National Film and Sound Archive
• Paul Hogan on Picture Australia