Hollywood actor Paul Hogan reveals that bizarre inspiration behind his first TV audition before making it as a successful film star
Hollywood actor Paul Hogan is one of Australia’s biggest film exports.
And the 80-year-old has revealed his rise to fame started when he decided to shade the judges of the New Faces talent show.
According to an extract from his new memoir ‘The Tap Dancing Knife Thrower’ Paul said he was inspired by the ‘cruel’ jibes they would take at contestants.
Legend: Actor Paul Hogan, 80, (pictured) has revealed what inspired his first audition for TV show New Faces in an extract from his upcoming autobiography. Here: LA, 2020
‘It’s like watching the Christians being fed to the lions,’ he recalls saying while still a rigger on Sydney Harbour Bridge.
‘Just once, it’d be nice if one of the Christians jumped up, you know, and bit the nuts off a lion.
‘I’d like to go up there and, on behalf of the amateurs, give all the celebrities a bit of a serve,’ he finished.
Inspiring: The Australian actor said the judges’ behaviour towards the aspiring talent on the TV program inspired him to create a comedy skit. Here: 1972
Career: Paul went on to work on a number of comedy shows which focused on skits. Here: On The Paul Hogan Show which ran from 1973 to 1984
Paul avoided the two-year waiting list at Channel Nine by writing to the program and calling himself Australia’s leading ‘tap dancing knife thrower’.
He fronted up to the network and while having second thoughts he saw an improvisational jazz dancer coming off stage in tears.
The move inspired him to go through with the audition, which started his comedy career in Australia. According to IMDB, New Faces ran from 1963 to 1985.
The tell-all autobiography is set to be released in November, giving his first-hand account of his rise from rigger to Hollywood star.
Paul told The Courier Mail in May that he often expected someone to say: ‘What are you doing here? You’re just a bloody rigger.’
Putting pen to paper: Paul, who grew up in Sydney’s Granville, previously told The Courier Mail that ‘it’s about time’ he took a trip down memory lane. Pictured with second ex-wife Linda Kozlowski in 1986 film Crocodile Dundee
Paul, who grew up in Sydney’s Granville, added that ‘it’s about time’ he took a trip down memory lane.
‘Now that I’ve moved firmly into the fourth quarter, it’s about time I shared the stories behind the headlines and movie posters,’ he said.
‘Because, more often than not in my life, fact has been funnier, and certainly stranger, than fiction.’
Back then: Paul starred in an ad campaign for Winfield cigarettes as his career took off in the 1970s. The actor was a massive Hollywood movie star
To be released by HarperCollins Australia, the autobiography will detail the highs and lows of his life – professionally and personally.
Paul lives in Venice, California these days, and is close to his former wife, Linda Kozlowski, 62 – who he found fame with on Crocodile Dundee.
Linda has since moved into property development.
Pals: Paul lives in Venice, California these days, and is close to his former wife, Linda Kozlowski, 62, and their son, Chance, 22. Pictured with Linda in 2013
Humble beginnings: Born and bred in Sydney’s western suburbs, Paul shot to fame while working as a rigger on the Sydney Harbour Bridge