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Paul Hogan usually doesn’t come to mind when the Oscars are mentioned, but he didn’t do a bad job hosting the show in 1987.
The Hollywood Reporter said the Australian writer-actor “put a lively spin on things” and added that “his time was all too brief, only opening the telecast.” The Wonder From Down Under, then 47, was coming off the mega-success of Crocodile Dundee ($328 million worldwide, $740 million today) when asked to co-host with Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn.
Hogan’s turn at the podium would probably be best remembered for his welcome speech to the audience. His first tip to winners was “the three Gs: Be gracious, be grateful, get off.” He also advised the nominees not to be too humble. “Don’t get up onstage and say, ‘I don’t deserve this award.’ If you really feel you don’t deserve an Academy Award, just give us a wave from your seat.”
Later in the evening, Hogan didn’t get a chance at false humility or waving: He had an original screenplay nom for Dundee but lost to Woody Allen for Hannah and Her Sisters. When he was interviewed backstage, THR reported, Hogan said he was probably better off because the combination of box office success and an Oscar “would have doomed his next film to failure.” (The poorly reviewed Dundee II would gross $240 million, or $513 million today.) Hogan, 79, next appears (with Chase) in The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee, in which he plays … Paul Hogan.
This story first appeared in a January stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
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