Ernie Dingo

Nationality: Australian Born: 31 July 1956 Height: n-a Star sign: Leo Famous for: Being the host of The Great Outdoors and being an ambassadors for Aboriginal Australians. Quirky Quote:

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Ernie Dingo was born just outside of Mullewa on the Bullardoo cattle station, in the North West of Western Australia, on 31 July 1956. His Aboriginal name is Oondamooroo, meaning ‘shield’ in the Wadjarri language of the Yamatiji people. The name ‘Dingo’ was taken from his mother’s father, who was a dogger and tracker.

While Dingo was a teenager, he excelled as an athlete, and later played first division for the East Coast Wildcats in the State League. After leaving school at 16 to take up a signwriting apprenticeship in Perth, he had his first taste of ‘treading the boards’ in a small theatre production of Carbach. He joined the Middar Dance Theatre in 1978, and slowly began to develop a body of acting work that built his reputation as a fine Aboriginal Actor.

Today, most people know Ernie Dingo for his travel tales in The Great Outdoors, on Australia’s Channel 7, which he has hosted since 1993. He also has a long list film credits to his name—many of them outstanding performances. His first lead role was for the SBS telemovie, Tudawali (1987), for which he received a nomination for Best Actor in the Australian Film Institute’s (AFI) Awards for that year. Just one year later, he played his now famous role in Crocodile Dundee II.

Other projects in film, television and theatre include The Cowra Breakout (1984), A Waltz Through the Hills (1987, for which he finally won and AFI Awards, for Best Actor in a Television Drama), and the Australian drama television series, Heartland, which he co-starred in with Cate Blanchett.

Dingo’s work as an ambassador for Aboriginal people has been tireless. In 1979, he spent several years as an Aboriginal Cultural Officer, teaching: “anything related to Aboriginal heritage”, building self-esteem and self-awareness. He has since gone on to represent Aboriginal people in many of Australia’s national events, most notably, as the narrator of the Indigenous segment of the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games in Sydney, 2000.