Crocodile Dundee hit the big screen in 1986, and racked up millions of dollars at the box office as well as award nominations for the film’s main characters.
The flick went onto earn a staggering $328 million (£262 million) at the international box office — not a bad result considering the film cost around $7million (£5.6million) to make.
Aside from bringing in the coin, the move turned Paul Hogan into a household name in Hollywood.
From on-set romances to jail time, here’s what the stars of Crocodile Dundee have been up to since the film’s release 34 years ago.
Paul Hogan – Michael J. ‘Crocodile’ Dundee
Paul Hogan played the Crocodile Hunter in the 1986 flick (Image: © PARAMOUNT PICTURES)
Paul Hogan appeared in several Australian TV shows prior to portraying the iconic Crocodile Dundee in the academy-award nominated flick.
Following the success of Crocodile Dundee and its first sequel, he turned down the lead role in Ghost, instead starring in the lesser-known flick, Almost an Angel in 1990. Other films included Lightning Jack in 1994, Flipper in 1996 (a big-screen remake of the classic TV show, which also starred a young Elijah Wood), and Floating Away in 1998.
Paul Hogan and his wife Linda Kozlowski married after meeting on the film’s set but divorced 25-years later (Image: PA)
Following two divorces from his first wife, Noelene Edwards, he married his co-star Linda Kozlowski in 1990, and the pair went on to welcome a son years later. In October 2013, Kozlowski filed for divorce from Hogan, citing “irreconcilable differences”, with the divorce finalising in 2014.
He reprised his role of Michael J Dundee in 2001 with Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles, and also starred in Strange Bedfellows in 2004 – a film that was written and directed by Hogan’s good friend Dean Murphy.
Between 2013 and 2015 he toured a live stand-up show throughout 25 locations in Australia.
Linda Kozlowski – Sue Charlton
Linda Kozlowski shares one son with former husband Paul Hogan (Image: Daily Mirror)
Before Linda starred in the Crocodile Dundee trilogy, she was a well-known Broadway actress, who played the role of Miss Forsythe in Death of a Salesman, and reprised the part in the 1985 film.
She starred alongside her new husband Paul Hogan in Almost an Angel, and racked up other acting credits in Backstreet Justice and The Neighbor in 1994, and Village of the Damned in 1995, before she once again starred alongside her spouse in Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles in 2001.
The actress retired from acting after becoming tired of the roles she was offered (Image: Reuters)
She has since left the world of showbiz and acting behind, explaining to the Scripps Howard News Service in 2001: “These straight-to-video schlocky films I was getting were giving me an ulcer, basically because I was the only one on the set that cared about anything.
“I’d say, ‘Well, this scene doesn’t make sense.’ ‘Aw, so what, just say the lines.’ I thought, ‘This isn’t fun anymore. This is not why I studied, it’s not what I love.’ Between that and my biological clock, I decided to give it all away.”
David Gulpilil – Neville Bell
David Gulpilil was jailed in 2011 for abusing his wife (Image: WireImage)
David Gulpilil, a Yolngu traditional dancer and actor, was a talented hunter and ceremonial dancer, spending his childhood in the Bush, well away from any non-Aboriginal influences.
After his role in Crocodile Dundee, he played a lead role in the critically acclaimed Storm Boy in 1976, and a year later portrayed tribal Aboriginal man Chris Lee in The Last Wave.
Most recently, he landed a major part in Baz Luhrmann’s Australia, released in 2008. He won a Special Jury Prize at the 2006 Cannes Festival for his narration in the film Ten Canoes.
Dubbed one of the most renowned traditional dancers in his country, he has organised troupes of dancers and musicians and has performed at festivals throughout Australia, including the prestigious Darwin Australia Day Eisteddfod dance competition, which he won four times.
He was sentenced to 12 months in jail in September 2011 for throwing a broom at his wife, Miriam Ashley, and breaking her arm during a drunken attack in December 2010.
Gulpilil was handed a 12-month sentence, which was suspended after five months. He was ordered to enter a seven-month alcohol rehabilitation programme as a condition of being freed early.
Mark Blum – Richard Mason
Mark Blum reportedly died of complications from covid-19 (Image: Getty Images)
Mark Blum’s role in Crocodile Dundee propelled him to Hollywood stardom and he went on to feature in a myriad of releases over the decades.
His other movie projects included Lovesick in 1983, Desperately Seeking Susan in 1985, Just Between Friends in 1986, Blind Date in 1987 and The Presidio in 1988, and most recently indie flick Love is Blind in 2019.
Aside from his filmography, he has appeared in well-known television shows including Frasier, West Wing, and Succession, among others.
A well-established actor, he was working months before he tragically passed away this year.
On March 25, 2020, Blum died at the age of 69 from complications associated with coronavirus at New York Presbyterian Hospital.
Michael Lombard – Sam Charlton
Michael Lombard starred as Sam Charlton in Crocodile Dundee (Image: 20th Century Fox)
Along with Crocodile Dundee, Michael Lombard also starred in many other films, including Prizzi’s Honor in 1985, Pet Sematary in 1989, The Devil’s Advocate in 1997, and Rounders in 1998.
Between 1976 and 2005 he had guest roles in popular American television series as Kojak (a 2-part episode), nine episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Hour, Miami Vice, The Cosby Show, and 4 episodes of Law & Order and its spin-offs.
He has since retired, and resides in Brooklyn, New York.
Steve Rackman – Donk
Steve Rackman went on to become a professional wrestler after quitting acting
English-born Australian actor and professional wrestler, Steve Rackman, is best known for his role as Donk in the film Crocodile Dundee.
Following the film’s release, he starred in the two sequels, but has failed to appear in any other noteworthy movies since.
However, in his professional wrestling career, he wrestled under the ring name of Steve ‘Crusher’ Rackman and famously fought with Andre the Giant, which brought in a live audience of around 10,000 people.
After bowing out of the ring, he went on to open several gyms in Australia before selling them off in 2010 and retiring.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
