By Travis Johnson
Crocodile Dundee star Paul Hogan is the recipient of this year’s AACTA Longford Lyell Award, it has been announced today.
Since 1968, the Longford Lyell Award has been the top honour the Australia Academy can bestow upon an industry figure, recognising outstanding contribution to Australian film culture, or more specifically “A person who has shown an unwavering commitment over many years to excellence in the film and television industries and has, through their body of work to date, contributed substantially to the enrichment of Australian screen culture.” Previous winners have included Cate Blanchett, David Stratton, Charles “Bud” Tingwell, Jack Thompson, Fred Schepisi and Peter Weir.
Hogan will be honoured at Wednesday night’s AACTA Awards ceremony in Sydney, which will be screened on Channel 7 at 8.30pm. Shane Jacobson, Michael Caton, former Tourism Minister John Brown, Peter Faiman, Dave Hughes, Adam Hills, Ernie Dingo and Delvene Delaney will speak at the ceremony.
Hogan, ever laconic, remarked, “I’m honoured to be receiving such a wonderful award and am looking forward to catching up with many colleagues on the evening.”