PAUL Hogan wants to create an atmosphere of intimate family storytelling during his Tamworth show tonight, but he didn’t expect to be sharing memories with a local flesh-and-blood relative.
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Arthur Davidson has been calling Tamworth home for the past 13 years and had always wanted to meet his famous second cousin.
The Crocodile Dundee star said people often claimed to be a relative or thought they had met him during his days rigging the Sydney Harbour Bridge, but often it led to disappointment.
“I got the call and I said ‘Not another bloody cousin’,” Mr Hogan said.
But Mr Davidson brought him a family tree, photographs and a handful of tall tales to prove the family connection.
“I’ve been hearing stories about Paul for years but I never had the opportunity to meet him,” Mr Davidson said.
“I’m 73 now, so I didn’t think it would happen.”
Their grandparents were siblings – Mr Davidson’s paternal grandmother was sister to Hogan’s maternal grandfather.
The pair bonded over black-and-white snaps and swapped tales about the larrikin antics of one of Mr Davidson’s cousins, who was at school with Paul Hogan.
The Davidson tale of Hogan being expelled from school for smoking behind the toilets turned out to be a fabrication, but Hogan promised the stories in his Hoges: One Night Only show are all true.
“I have such an unusual and bizarre kind of life – I’ve got film and video to back up my stories to show they’re not lies,” Hogan said.
The show is a kind of performed autobiography by the Charlie and Boots actor, who was pressed by fans to write a book.
“It’s more colour and movement than a book,” he said.
“Older people know that I come from the real world, that I didn’t set myself up to be an entertainer.
“I didn’t get into it until I was 30, so I suppose I’m an inspiration for young people – just because you haven’t made it at 21, don’t give up.”
Hoges: One Night Only shows at Tamworth’s Town Hall in Fitzroy St at 7.30pm.