Ken Shadie
Ken Shadie | |
---|---|
Born | Kenneth George Shadie 8 December 1935 Bondi, New South Wales, Australia |
Died | 29 June 2020 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | (aged 84)
Occupation | Screenwriter |
Nationality | Australian |
Education | North Sydney Technical High School |
Notable works | Crocodile Dundee |
Spouse |
Pam Jameson (m. 1957) |
Kenneth George Shadie OAM (8 December 1935 – 29 June 2020) was an Australian screenwriter, who co-wrote the Academy Award-nominated screenplay for the film Crocodile Dundee with Paul Hogan and John Cornell.
Biography
[edit]Shadie was born in the Sydney suburb of Bondi and raised in Lane Cove. He was the son of Albert Nicholas Shadie, who was of Lebanese Christian descent, and Edith (née Rayner) from Manchester, England.[1]
He started in the sound department of ATN7's studio, working on Pardon Miss Westcott (1959), which was Australia's first original TV musical film. From 1964 to 1968, he was chief writer and script editor of The Mavis Bramston Show.[2] He worked on its less successful follow up News Revue, as the co-producer with Michael Pate.[3]
Shadie served as a producer and writer for the 1972 rustic comedy Snake Gully with Dad and Dave, which reunited him with a number of Bramston colleagues. In 1974, he contributed scripts for the groundbreaking soap opera Number 96.
In the late 1970s he was writing a revue for comedy actor Ron Frazer. This was seen by Paul Hogan who loved the writing and asked to meet Shadie. The two of them started writing together on The Paul Hogan Show.[4][5][6]
Hogan, Shadie and Cornell co-wrote the script for the film Crocodile Dundee,[7] which went on to become a massive hit in Australia and abroad, with the screenplay nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1986.[8][9]
In the late 1980s Ken Shadie wrote the first draft of the movie version of The Phantom.[10]
Shadie was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2015, for service to the film and television industries as a writer, and to veterans (for his community work as president of the Brooklyn sub-branch of the Returned and Services League of Australia).[11]
Shadie died at the age of 84, on 29 June 2020.[12]
Select Credits
[edit]- The Mavis Bramston Show
- The Undertakers (1970)
- Crocodile Dundee (1986)
References
[edit]- ^ Barlass, Tim (13 August 2020). "Co-scriptwriter of Crocodile Dundee, which started as 'Buffalo Jones'". Sydney Morning Herald.
- ^ "CAPITAL-LETTER Mavis brings instant relief". The Canberra Times. 28 October 1965. p. 3. Retrieved 25 December 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "NEWS WITH HUMOUR". The Canberra Times. 4 August 1969. p. 13. Retrieved 25 December 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "MEDAL (OAM) OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA IN THE GENERAL DIVISION" (PDF). Government of Australia. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
- ^ "IN HIS FIRST TV SPECIAL OF THE '80s: Hoges goes it alone with gusto". The Australian Women's Weekly. 30 April 1980. p. 29. Retrieved 25 December 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "After 10 years making Australians laugh... HOGES TAKE ON THE WORLD". The Australian Women's Weekly. 9 June 1982. p. 10. Retrieved 25 December 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "TIMESTYLE". The Canberra Times. 7 April 1985. p. 12. Retrieved 25 December 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Smith, Rohan (3 April 2013). "Brooklyn screenwriter Ken Shadie talks that famous line, Paul Hogan and how Crocodile Dundee "blew up"". Hornsby Advocate. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
- ^ Canby, Vincent (22 February 1987). "Oscars Seen in a Crystal Ball: FILM VIEW February Forecast: Oscars Seen In a Crystal Ball". New York Times. p. H1.
- ^ "The Phantom looks to Qld rainforests". The Canberra Times. 18 March 1988. p. 8. Retrieved 25 December 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Crocodile Dundee co-creator named in Queen's Birthday honours". The Daily Telegraph. 8 June 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
- ^ "Ken Shadie: Crocodile Dundee cowriter and Brooklyn identity dies at 84". The Daily Telegraph. 8 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
External links
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