AllMovie

Factsheet

• Left school at age 13.
• Qualified for the Australian Olympic swimming team in 1960, but had to pull out when he contracted viral meningitis.
• Made his film debut in 1957 as an extra in the film The Shiralee.
• Was a stuntman in On the Beach; watching the Hollywood actors work inspired him to become an actor full-time.
• Received a two-year scholarship to the Northampton Repertory Company in England.
• His two biggest hits in the U.S., Muriel's Wedding and Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, were filmed almost simultaneously and both released in 1994.