Top 10 Amazing Facts about Paul Hogan

Paul Hogan. Photo by robinmcnicoll. Wikimedia Commons.

Top 10 Amazing Facts about Paul Hogan

Paul Hogan is an Australian actor, comedian, film producer, and writer. His face is widely recognized in Australia because of the many advertisements he has done for companies. He is famous for his performance as outback adventurer Michael “Crocodile” Dundee in Crocodile Dundee (1986), the first in the Crocodile Dundee film series.

Paul Hogan was born on October 8, 1939, in New South Wales, Australia. He had a job as a rigger on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Paul Hogan has six children. Here are the top 10 Amazing Facts about Paul Hogan.

1. He remarried his first wife after a divorce

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 was initiated in 1986. This made the headlines in the Australian celebrity news.

Afterward, 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 finalized in 2014.

2. Hogan had legal issues with unpaid taxes

Comedian Paul Hogan in a Royal Charity Concert at the Sydney Opera House. Photo by Commonwealth of Australia (National Archives of Australia). Wikimedia Commons.

In 2007, Hogan was named as one of a group in connection to an AU$300 million Australian tax fraud investigation called Operation Wickenby. The investigation was conducted on  23 companies that allegedly used overseas companies to hide income.

While Hogan returned to Australia for his mother’s burial in 2010, he was given orders not to leave the country until he paid taxes for hidden incomes. His tax issues remained on and off and were finally settled in 2013.

3. Hogan has received many honors

For his tremendous contribution to the film industry, Hogan has received recognition and many awards. In 1986, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia “for service to tourism and entertainment”. The next year, he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Musical or Comedy for Crocodile Dundee.

In 2016, Hogan received the Longford Lyell Award, the highest honor of the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA), for outstanding services to the Australian screen.

4. His first public appearance was at an amateur talent program

The program hosted on Australian TV was called the Nine Network’s amateur talent program. Hogan claimed 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. He received positive feedback from the public and was welcomed back to perform repeatedly.

5. He had his comedy sketch program

Crocodile Dundee. Photo by Eva Rinaldi. Wikimedia Commons.

This is ‘The Paul Hogan Show’,  which he produced and wrote. He played as one of the characters of the show with Cornell and Delvene Delaney. The series ran for 60 episodes between 1973 and 1984.

It was popular in the UK, where it aired on the new Channel Four from 1982, and also in South Africa. The show highlighted his trademark lighthearted but laddish ocker humor.

6. Hogan advertised Winfield cigarettes

In the 1970s, Hogan advertised Winfield cigarettes in television, print, and billboard advertisements. He wore a formal dinner suit in the advertisement. 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. These advertisements were aired in the United States.

7. Hogan went on a trip around Australia doing standup comedy

Photo by Roland Fischer. Wikimedia Commons.

In 2013, 2014, and 2015, Hogan embarked on live stand-up performances throughout Australia. The 2013 tour entitled An Evening with Hoges featured capital cities only. On the other hand, 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 the documentary, Hogan was interviewed about his life and career by Jacobson.

8. He claimed he was born in New South Wales to appear more interesting

 At the start of his career, Paul Hogan claimed he was born in Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, to appear more interesting. He was born in Sydney. He moved to Granville in Western Sydney at a young age and worked as a rigger on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

9. He has a net worth of 20, million dollars

Paul Hogan, an Australian actor, and comedian has a net worth of $20 million. Hogan is most famous for appearing in the 1986 movie Crocodile Dundee and its subsequent sequels.

Hogan’s net worth peaked at the north of $75 million but unfortunately has declined significantly in recent years after an ugly divorce and a lengthy battle with the Australian Taxation Office.

10. His life has been portrayed on Television

Akubra hat, model The Croc. Photo by Eva Rinaldi. Wikimedia Commons.

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.