Paul Hogan - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

Hogan was born in Lightning Ridge, New South Wales. He grew up in the Sydney suburb of Granville and attended Parramatta Marist High School. Hogan went on to become a rigger working on the Sydney Harbour Bridge before rising to fame in 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, the UK, 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 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 featuring the phrase "shrimp on the barbie" which aired from 1984, was particularly successful.

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) "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?', to which Hogan replies (with a puzzled look on his face): "Drink it warm, mate."

In 1985, Hogan was awarded Australian of the Year and was also appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM).

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, he was featured in advertisements for the Subaru Outback.