Vale: Ken Shadie

Screenwriter Ken Shadie, best known for Crocodile Dundee, has died, aged 84.

He co-wrote Crocodile Dundee with Paul Hogan and John Cornell in 1986. It became the biggest independent film in movie history at US$328 million, and the highest-grossing film of all-time in Australia at $47.7m. It was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

He once said, “I was writing shows at Channel 7 and one of the producers, Jimmy Fishburn, said there’s this young fella at Channel 9 who’s a bit of a comedian. Asked if I wanted to meet him and we just clicked.

“I wrote all his shows for Channel 9 for years.”

But he got the idea for a film, telling Hogan, “…we write a show, it goes to air one night and its gone. Why don’t we write a movie?’

“It was life changing. I really had my moment there.”

Bondi-born Shadie was script editor of The Mavis Bramston Show, and wrote for Number 96, The Paul Hogan Show, Snake Gully with Dad and Dave, My Name’s McGooley What’s Yours?

Shadie was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2015, for service to the film and television industries and to armed services veterans.

Source / Photo: Daily Telegraph, Wikipedia