The ‘80s gave us a lot of bright
cult-favorite movies of various genres from different countries of the world.
The adventure comedy "Crocodile" Dundee was one of the first films that introduced
a wide audience to distant Australia. This movie made many unknown actors
famous. This video is about them.
Where are the actors of "Crocodile" Dundee now? The Australian film Crocodile Dundee was released
in 1986 and became the second-highest-grossing blockbuster. For American viewers, the word
"crocodile" in the title was enclosed in quotation marks to prevent confusion with a real
crocodile. And the Soviet viewers saw the picture in 1988 under the even more understandable
title "Dundee, Nicknamed Crocodile". It was the most popular Australian motion picture
in the Soviet market for unauthorized copies, which became popular in the era of VCRs.
This adventure comedy can be considered a classic second-highest-grossing because it
doesn’t lose its charm even after decades. The storyline of the future film was
invented by the leading actor and scriptwriter Paul Hogan when he visited
New York for the first time in his life, and then visited the Australian Northern
Territory, a predominantly desert region where a third of the population are Australian
Aborigines. The contrast was so striking that the inhabitants of the desert would seem like aliens
from space for the inhabitants of the metropolis, and vice versa. Then Hogan came up with
a story about an American journalist who first comes to the Northern Territory
in search of material for exotic reports, and then takes a colorful local resident who
has never lived in a big city to America. According to some sources, the
prototype of the protagonist is the Latvian crocodile hunter Arvids Blumentals, and according to others, the Australian adventurer
Rodney Ansell, who survived a crocodile attack. But then, in 2001, Paul Hogan said that the
idea of the character was born in his own head. The film was shot in two countries -
Australia and the USA. In New York, filming took place in the famous Plaza
Hotel, but the room with a bidet shown in the movie doesn’t really exist, the bidet
was installed on purpose and then removed. In Australia, the Kakadu National Park
was used for filming, which received an excellent promotion, and now everyone can go
on a trip to the places of Dundee's adventures. Since there were no hotels nearby, the entire
film crew had to be cooped up in the dilapidated huts of an abandoned mining village. They were
guarded by a specially hired watchman who made sure that filmmakers didn’t suffer from real
crocodiles. These camping conditions brought the crew members very close, and many of the
actors continue to communicate to this day. Dundee's main attribute is his knife, the
blade length of which is about 9 inches. There were actually several knives -
steel, rubber, and aluminum versions. Hogan left one of the steel knives for himself
after the movie and promised to never sell it. Not only were knives fake, but stuffed crocodiles
were also used on the set, even though Paul Hogan wanted to fight real predators. In one of the
scenes, Sue Charlton is attacked by a mechanical crocodile dummy made specifically for the movie
for 45 thousand dollars. But the wild buffalo that Mick Dundee brings to heel was a live animal,
but drugged with tranquilizers. According to the script, Dundee lays the buffalo down with his bare
hands, but since these animals can’t be trained, the 90-second scene was filmed all day. In fact,
the buffalo was placed in front of the camera, and then the cameraman waited
patiently for the animal to lie down. Some references to local culture
are found in the Australian film. For example, when Dundee addresses the dead
kangaroo that caused him to shoot poachers, saying, “Well done, Skippy.” That was a
reference to the popular 60s Australian TV show for kids “Skippy,” about the friendship
between a boy and a wild kangaroo called Skippy. But the Australian slang was mostly removed
from the international version of the movie and replaced with more common expressions.
Several scenes were also removed, which is why it is slightly shorter than the
original version, which lasted 104 minutes. The filmmakers didn’t want to depend on anyone,
so they decided not to ask for help from large studios and the state Australian Film Commission.
In just three weeks, they managed to attract 1,400 investors and raise about 9 million Australian
dollars, 600,000 of which were contributed by Paul Hogan. As a result, Crocodile Dundee
grossed more than 328 million dollars worldwide, and all profits were shared among investors
according to their equity contribution. When the shooting was over, the 20th century
Fox Hollywood studio was the first to receive the offer from the creators to buy the
rights to their film in the United States. A studio representative watched about 20
minutes of the movie and said that the deal would not go through. Paramount Pictures
turned out to be a more insightful company, so it acquired the rights
to show the film in the U.S. As a result, the film was nominated for several
prestigious movie awards, including the Oscar for Best Screenplay. It became one of the fifty
Australian films selected for preservation in the National Film and Sound Archives, and the
New York Times named the film directed by Peter Faiman "Phenomenon of the Year," presenting it to
the public as "a melodramatic version of Rambo." Two more movies were made in the wake
of the success of the first film about the adventures of the crocodile hunter. They
also starred Paul Hogan and Linda Kozlowski. We will now tell you about their life
and several more actors in the movie. Paul Hogan and Linda Kozlowski The leading actor Paul Hogan
was born in Sydney in 1939, even though he used to have claimed that the
provincial Lightning Ridge was his hometown. Apparently, this way he was trying to show
his connection with his most famous character, the hunter Michael "Crocodile" Dundee.
In real life, Paul had an early marriage, became the father of three children, and mastered
many blue-collar jobs. He was a bricklayer, rigger, beach lifeguard, interior decorator, and
even worked on repairs of Sydney Harbor Bridge. Meanwhile, Linda Kozlowski, Paul's
future partner in the film and in life, was spending her childhood in the
American city of Fairfield, Connecticut. She grew up in a Polish-American family with
her older brother and was fond of singing. In 1971, Paul decided to participate in
the popular Australian television show "New Faces", in which people
demonstrate their various talents. He didn’t like the way the members of the jury
attacked the unlucky participants in the show, so he decided to personally express what
he thought of the members of the jury. In his application, Hogan wrote that he was
a provincial sheep shearer who tap-dances and throws knives in his spare time. It worked, and
he was invited to shoot. He didn’t want to look suspicious, so he appeared on the show with a pile
of impressive knives wearing large boots. But when he was called to the stage, he began to wittily
scold the members of the jury. The audience was delighted, and the next day, the whole country
was talking about the handsome blue-eyed blonde. Shortly after that, Paul was invited to
a popular talk show for an interview, and then, in 1973, the former worker became
the producer, screenwriter, and the main actor of the sketch show The Paul Hogan Show.
It was running until 1984. All this time, it was Australia's favorite television entertainment
show. Paul was named Australian of the Year 1985. Hogan also starred in many
commercials, for example, in a video for Winfield cigarettes.
He was also the face of a campaign promoting Australian tourism in
the United States in the 1980s. Even though Australian women loved Paul, his wife
Noelene Edwards didn’t share such enthusiasm. She had known him for too long and
clearly saw all his flaws. Over the years, the spouses repeatedly separated, then reunited,
even officially divorced and re-married. Meanwhile, they had two more children. Hogan
paid little attention to his five heirs while pursuing a career and quarrels with his wife,
which he later regretted most in his life. Meanwhile overseas, Linda Kozlowski graduated
from the prestigious Juilliard School of the Arts in New York, where she studied
drama and the art of operatic singing, got married and divorced, and made her debut on
Broadway in the production of How It All Began. Off-Broadway, she also appeared in various
performances, as well as in the TV series Nurse in 1982. The actress's most astonishing
work on stage was the role of Miss Forsythe in the famous playwright Arthur Miller's Death
of a Salesman. She played the same role in 1985 in the film adaptation of this work, which became
the first big work of the actress in the cinema. Also in 1985, Paul Hogan played one of the main
roles in the Anzacs mini-series. After that, he decided to try his hand at the cinema, having
conceived a motion picture about a resident of the Australian Northern Territories. Hogan wrote
the script for “Crocodile” Dundee in three weeks, and most of the crew had worked
with the actor on television before. Due to the relatively modest budget, the creators
of Dundee mostly hired little-known actors. One of them was 28-year-old Linda Kozlowski, who
played the role of the American journalist Sue. The first major film work brought Hogan
victory in the nomination "Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical" at the Golden Globe Awards,
and Kozlowski received worldwide popularity. In addition to career success, they were
about to face changes in their personal lives. At first, the relationship between
Paul and Linda on the set was cool, but they became very friendly over time. They used
to sit together and laugh at the jokes in between takes. The friendship grew into a romance,
even though the actor was still married. Their relationship was discussed all over Australia,
Linda was called a homewrecker, and Paul's wife Noelene was willingly giving interviews in
which she strongly expressed her feelings. This was followed by headline-making
divorce proceedings, which ended only in 1990. Immediately after that, on May
5, 1990, Paul and Linda got married. The wedding was attended by about 100 guests, but
the reporters were not allowed to the ceremony. The ceremony took place in the actor's luxurious
mansion, located near the city of Byron Bay in the hilly area of the Australian state of New South
Wales. The 950 square yards Italian-style estate features two spacious bedrooms, a living room
with a large fireplace, a dining room overlooking the English courtyard garden, and another
smaller dining room overlooking the pool. The interior of the house was designed by Italian
designers, and many of its details, such as tiles, stained glass windows, arched windows, wood
carvings, and plaster moldings, were made by hand. According to Australian media reports, Paul Hogan
sold this house in 2006 for 8.1 million dollars. After the wedding, the newlyweds moved to
the United States and settled in California. There, Linda starred in the comedy Pass the Ammo, and Paul began working on the second part
of his adventure comedy, released in 1988. Even though the sequels rarely repeat the success
of the original, “Crocodile” Dundee 2 also broke the box office records of 1988, however, this
time collecting just under 240 million dollars. The Hogan-Kozlowski star couple became incredibly
popular. They received many lucrative offers from Hollywood producers. But Hogan didn’t choose too
popular projects. He turned down the role in the famous melodrama Ghost, starring with Linda in
the sentimental comedy Almost an Angel instead. Kozlowski starred in several more films
in the ‘90s, including the thrillers The Neighbor and Village of the Damned. Paul also
appeared in the family adventure film Flipper and the western based on his
own script Lightning Jack. In 1998, the couple had a son, Chance. This
time Paul decided not to repeat past mistakes and paid maximum attention to his
son while Linda was on the set. In the early 2000s, Hogan and Kozlowski
returned to their iconic characters. The premiere of “Crocodile” Dundee
in Los Angeles took place in 2001, but this release was not a success.
With a budget of 25 million dollars, it grossed 39 million worldwide, which
is much less than the previous parts. In the first film, Paul Hogan took a risk and
played his character only for a percentage of the distribution. And since he retained the
rights to the films, according to unofficial data, Paul personally earned about 100 million
dollars from the Mick Dundee franchise in total. After the release of the third part
of the “Crocodile” Dundee franchise, Linda Kozlowski decided to end her acting
career due to the lack of good roles, and Hogan was filmed only in Australia.
The actor played the main roles in the comedy Strange Bedfellows and the
comedy-drama Charlie and Boots. Meanwhile, Paul Hogan was at the
center of a tax evasion lawsuit. The Australian IRS alleged that Paul used his
offshore accounts and California residency to hide his millions of dollars in earnings from the
“Crocodile” Dundee movie franchise for 25 years. In 2010, after Hogan went to Australia for
his mother's funeral, he was not allowed to leave the country until he paid a debt of 37.5
million dollars. This dispute was settled many years later (according to some reports, Hogan
eventually paid tens of millions of dollars), but added problems to the already complicated
relationship between Hogan and Kozlowski. In the fall of 2013, it became public that Linda
had filed for divorce due to irreconcilable differences. In an interview, they both said
that they were opposites from the very beginning, but mutual attraction disappeared over
time and nothing united them anymore. Before the divorce, the couple sold a new
house in Malibu to their fellow Australians Chris Hemsworth and his wife for 4.7 million
dollars. The five-bedroom Victorian mansion is located close to the beach, overlooking the large
terrace. The house has a large modern kitchen, living room with fireplace,
library, and six bathrooms. The divorce was finalized in 2014, after which
Linda regained her maiden name and received, according to various sources, from 5.7
to 7 million dollars. With this money, she bought several land plots in California and now owns a lucrative tourism business. She
launched it in Morocco with her third husband, a Moroccan named Moulay Hafid Babaa. Now her
net worth is estimated at 10 million dollars. As for Paul Hogan, after his divorce, he went
on a tour of Australia with his stand-up show Hanging with Hoges. Part of this
program was featured in the 2014 documentary of the same name, in which
the actor spoke about his life and career. In 2016, Hogan received the Outstanding
Contribution to Australian Film Award, and a year later a fictional
mini-series about his life was released. In 2018, Paul produced a short film called Dundee
- The Son of a Legend Returns Home and in 2020, starred in the comedy The Very Excellent
Mr. Dundee. In the latter, Hogan portrayed himself as an aging film actor, manipulated
because of his legendary character Mick Dundee. Now Paul Hogan's capital is estimated at 20
million dollars. He lives in the Los Angeles coastal area of Venice but plans to return
to his native Australia due to the rise in homelessness and increased crime. But now
it is incredibly difficult to sell the house in new conditions. He is forced to hide
in his estate for 4.5 million dollars. Once he had to attach a note to the gate of his
garage, saying, "This is my house, not yours." John Meillon Our next hero is one of the few who started
filming “Crocodile” Dundee already being a famous and recognized actor. An Australian film,
television, and theater veteran and recipient of prestigious Australian awards, John Meillon played
Wally, an old friend and companion of Dundee. He began his acting career at age of
11 in an audio comedy radio series. Even before graduating from school,
he got a job in a theater troupe and made his film debut at the age of 25 in 1959,
playing in the fantastic drama On the Beach. In the following years, the actor took part
in numerous productions, films, and TV shows, including the Skippy series, which Dundee
refers to in the above-mentioned kangaroo scene. He was also awarded an Honorary Officer
of the Order of the British Empire for his services to the performing arts.
During his career, John Maylon played more than 20 big roles and passed away in
1989 at the age of 55 from liver cirrhosis. “Crocodile” Dundee 2 was
his last work in the cinema. David Gulpilil The Yolngu ethnic aborigine was
also relatively famous in Australia. He rose to fame as a teenager
in the 1971 drama Walkabout, and since then, has established
himself as a popular performer of traditional Australian dances, as well as the star of several movies about the
relationship between white and black Australians. For more than forty years, Gulpilil
has starred in dozens of films, including the famous 2008 Australia, and received
an award for his contribution to the development of aboriginal culture. In 2019, David Gulpilil
retired from his acting career due to lung cancer. The premiere of a documentary about his life
entitled "My name is Gulpilil" took place in 2021. Michael Lombard Another American on the set of
"Crocodile" is Michael Lombard who played Sam Charlton. He also played
many small roles in various projects, the most famous of which are The Devil's
Advocate, Pet Sematary, and the series Law & Order. Despite his considerable age,
Lombard acted in films and TV shows until 2013. He never officially announced his retirement,
he just stopped appearing on the screens. Reginald VelJohnson American actor and comedian from New
York, Reginald VelJohnson played Gus, and “Crocodile” Dundee helped him move up
the career ladder. He appeared in Die Hard in 1988 and got a role in the popular sitcom Family
Matters a year later. The actor continues to act, particularly in 2020, he co-starred with
Paul Hogan in The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee. Mark Blum Mark Blum grew up in a Jewish family
in the American state of New Jersey and studied at the University of Pennsylvania.
Mark began acting on stage in the ‘70s and acting in films and television in the
‘80s. He became famous in 1985 for his role in the movie Desperately Seeking
Susan, where he played alongside Madonna. After the role of the main character's
groom in “Crocodile” Dundee, he played roles in the romantic comedy Blind
Date and the detective thriller The Presidio. In the following years, he was producing film
projects and appeared in many popular TV series, such as Succession, Billions, The Good Wife,
Elementary, C.S.I .: Miami, and others. Mark Bloom died on March 25, 2020, at the age
of 69 from improper treatment of COVID-19.
Have you watched the movie “Crocodile”
Dundee? Which part is your favorite?
