Paul Hogan | 10/8/1939 | 82

Paul Hogan is best known as the Australian country bumpkin Crocodile Dundee. He worked in various vocations before getting a position in show business, including as a painter on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Hogan wrote to a television talent competition in the late 1960s, professing his wish to perform as a “tap-dancing knife thrower.” However, while on the show, he did a stand-up routine in which he mocked the show he was on. The hoax went viral across Australia, and Hogan earned his program, A Current Affair. He went on to string his career investments with The Paul Hogan Show. Despite receiving multiple offers to portray parts in various feature films, Hogan opted to go his own way and produced his most successful picture to date, Crocodile Dundee. His “fish-out-of-water” character approaches the fast-paced city life from a unique perspective. Crocodile Dundee was an instant hit in his home country and globally. After co-writing and acting in the most successful independent film in history, Hogan says he “mentally retired.”