Paul Hogan

Paul Hogan, AM (born 8 October 1939)^[2] is an Australian comedian, actor and television presenter. 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 Dundee series film franchise.

Early life

Paul Hogan was born in Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia. He worked as a rigger on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.^[3][4][5]

Career

Hogan rose to prominence in Australia during the early 1970s after an interview on A Current Affair. Hogan followed this with his own comedy sketch program The Paul Hogan Show, which he produced, wrote, and in which he played characters with John Cornell. The series, which ran for 60 episodes between 1973 and 1984, was popular in his native country and South Africa, and showcased his trademark lighthearted but laddish ocker humour. 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, he 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.^[6]

In 1985, Hogan starred as an Australian World War I 'digger' named Pat Cleary in the critically acclaimed 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, he appeared on British TV 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) "Struth, 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. He followed that role in 1988 with Crocodile Dundee II. 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 due to 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.^[7]

In the early 1990s, a Paramount executive pitched a concept of a Crocodile Dundee / Beverly Hills Cop crossover movie.^[8] Hogan refused the starring role in the hit film Ghost, choosing instead to make Almost an Angel (1990).^[9]

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, he 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.

Honours

In 1985, Hogan was named Australian of the Year.^[10][11]

In 1986 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) "for service to tourism and entertainment".^[12]

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 in celebrity circles.^[13] 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. He is an Australian Republican.^[14]

Tax problems

Hogan has been named as one of a group in connection to a A$300 million Australian tax fraud investigation called Operation Wickenby, investigating 23 companies for allegedly using overseas companies to hide income.^[15] In July 2008, Hogan commented to Network Ten that he had "paid plenty of tax" in Australia and that he had nothing to fear from the Australian Taxation Office investigation.^[16]

In October 2008, Hogan scored a major victory in his tax fight with the Australian Crime Commission, who were forced to pay up to an estimated A$5 million for legal bills dating back to 2006 and were required to return seized personal financial documents that they had admitted were irrelevant.^[17] Hogan has not been charged in connection with the investigation, which began in 2003.^[17]

On 18 June 2010 in the Australian High Court, Hogan lost a long-running legal battle to keep the contents of his tax documents secret, paving the way for details of his offshore accounts to be published. Earlier the same year, Australian media reported that the Australian Crime Commission was in the final stages of preparing to lay criminal charges of tax evasion against him, film producer John Cornell and their accountant Anthony Stewart, whom it suspects of channeling millions of dollars from the proceeds of the film Crocodile Dundee and other films into offshore tax havens. The release of the documents is expected to help finalize their case.^[18]

On 20 August 2010, Hogan flew to Sydney for his mother's funeral. Upon arrival he was issued a Departure Prohibition Order by the Australian Taxation Office, which prevented him leaving the country until his alleged tax debt was paid or settled. The nation's tax office claims he owes taxes on A$37.5 million of undeclared income.^[19] On 3 September, Hogan was granted permission to return to the US through an agreement between his lawyers and Australian tax officials, though the terms of the agreement have not been disclosed. Hogan continues to deny any wrongdoing in the case.^[20]

In November 2010, the Australian Tax Office dropped its criminal investigation of him and his business manager for tax evasion.^[21]

In January 2011, it was announced that Hogan is suing the Australian government, his lawyer stating that Hogan's "earning potential and reputation has been decimated."^[22] Hogan has since likened the Australian Tax Office to the Taliban^[23] and referred to staff as 'a-holes'.^[24]

In May 2012, it was announced that following mediation before ex-High Court Judge the entities settled with the Commissioner of Taxation in an agreement "without admission". The parties have agreed that the terms of the settlement are to be confidential, but as part of the settlement, the Departure Prohibition Order has been revoked by the Commissioner.^[25][26][27] As of April 2013, Hogan's financial advisor Stewart remained in a dispute with the Australian Tax Office.^[28]

Hogan then reappeared in the media in April 2013 due to an AU$32.3 million issue with a Swiss bank run by the Geneva firm Strachans. Following the placement of the monetary sum in an offshore account for the purpose of tax avoidance, Hogan is unable to access the funds as of April 2013 and a United States court action that sought AU$80 million in damages proved unsuccessful for Hogan.^[29] Hogan publicly stated that he believes that Philip Egglishaw, the principal of Strachans and a former tax advisor to Hogan, has absconded with the money and Hogan's American legal representative Schuyler "Sky" Moore filed corresponding documents in a Californian Court based on this claim.^[28] On 18 April 2013, it was reported that Egglishaw denied the allegations of his former client.^[30]

Filmography

Acting

Writing

Producing

Himself

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Paul Hogan

• Paul Hogan at the Internet Movie Database
• 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