Ernie Dingo
Encyclopedia
Ernie Dingo AM
(born 31 July 1956 at Bullardoo Station) is an Indigenous Australian
actor and television presenter originating from the Yamatji
people of the Murchison region of Western Australia.
with his family. He went to Prospect Primary and then Geraldton
High School.
He came to acting after moving to Perth
and meeting Richard Walley
, with whom he played basketball in a local team. Ernie went on to play state league first division for the East Perth Eagles.
With Richard Walley
created a controversial "welcome to country" ceremony after dancers from the Pacific would not perform without one in Perth in 1976.
's 1987 drama The Fringe Dwellers
and worked on the 1988 docu-drama biopic Tudawali. He had a major supporting role in the international comedy blockbuster Crocodile Dundee II
in 1988. He appeared as himself in the 1989 comedy Capuccino had a major role in the 1991 Wim Wenders
film Until the End of the World
. In 1993 he starred in Blackfellas and he had a lead role in 1996's Dead Heart
. In 1998 he starred in Somewhere in the Darkness. In 2010 he returned to the silver screen with a role in the Aboriginal musical Bran Nue Dae
along with Jessica Mauboy
and Geoffrey Rush
.
, Heartbreak High
and Rafferty's Rules
. He appeared in the TV mini-series' The Cowra Breakout (1984), A Waltz Through The Hills (1987), (for which he won an AFI Award for Best Actor in a Television Drama) and Kings In Grass Castles (1997), as well as co-starring with Cate Blanchett
in the Australian television drama series Heartland
(Heartland is known as Burned Bridges
in the United States).
Ernie Dingo narrated the Indigenous segment of the 2000 Olympic Games opening ceremony in Sydney, New South Wales.
In May 2007, Dingo appeared as one of the celebrity performers on the celebrity reality singing competition It Takes Two. Dingo also hosts the short-lived series No Leave, No Life
, also on Channel Seven
.
Ernie Dingo was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1990, in recognition of his service to the performing arts.
Dingo is a prominent supporter of Australian rules football
, and in particular the Australian Football League
's West Coast Eagles
. He was on the selection committee for the Indigenous Team of the Century
.
In 2010, two women from New South Wales and Victoria claimed to have engaged in affairs with Dingo. It was reported that they are living in an open marriage for the sake of their children. The claim of an open marriage was found to be false and was retracted.
In August 2010, the WA Police Force
announced they had opened an investigation into reports of child abuse by Ernie Dingo. It is alleged that Dingo slapped and verbally abused an 11-year boy at Carnarvon Primary School, and then made abusive comments singling out that particular boy while speaking at a school assembly shortly afterward. Dingo denied the claims, saying: "I deny it, but until there is an outcome I can't really talk about it." He entered a plea of not guilty by endorsement in a letter to the court and a date of 3 February 2011 was set for trial in Carnarvon. However, on 18 April 2011, following a mediation session, the assault charge was dropped and the matter formally withdrawn.
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(born 31 July 1956 at Bullardoo Station) is an Indigenous Australian
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
actor and television presenter originating from the Yamatji
Yamatji
Yamatji is a name commonly used by Aboriginal people in the Murchison and Gascoyne regions of Western Australia to refer to themselves, and sometimes also to Aboriginal people generally, when speaking English. The word comes from the Wajarri language where it has the meaning 'man' or 'human being'...
people of the Murchison region of Western Australia.
Background
Born Ernest Ashley Dingo on 31 July 1956, at Bullardoo Station, he was the second child of nine. He grew up in MullewaMullewa, Western Australia
- External links :* *...
with his family. He went to Prospect Primary and then Geraldton
Geraldton, Western Australia
Geraldton is a city and port in Western Australia located north of Perth in the Mid West region. Geraldton has an estimated population at June 2010 of 36,958...
High School.
He came to acting after moving to Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
and meeting Richard Walley
Richard Walley
Dr Richard Walley OAM is a Nyoongar man, one of Australia's leading Aboriginal performers, musicians and writers, who has been a campaigner for the Indigenous cause.-Biography:...
, with whom he played basketball in a local team. Ernie went on to play state league first division for the East Perth Eagles.
Career
Dingo has had a distinguished career as an actor and presenter in film and television. Dingo has also promoted the Generation One "Hand Across Australia" which was a promotion for Indigenous equality.With Richard Walley
Richard Walley
Dr Richard Walley OAM is a Nyoongar man, one of Australia's leading Aboriginal performers, musicians and writers, who has been a campaigner for the Indigenous cause.-Biography:...
created a controversial "welcome to country" ceremony after dancers from the Pacific would not perform without one in Perth in 1976.
Film
Dingo's film career commenced in the 1980s and he appeared regularly on screen through the 1990s. He appeared in Bruce BeresfordBruce Beresford
Bruce Beresford is an Australian film director who has made more than 30 feature films over a 40-year career.-Early life:...
's 1987 drama The Fringe Dwellers
The Fringe Dwellers
The Fringe Dwellers is a 1961 novel written by the Western Australian author Nene Gare. It was made into a 1986 film directed by Bruce Beresford.-The Film:...
and worked on the 1988 docu-drama biopic Tudawali. He had a major supporting role in the international comedy blockbuster Crocodile Dundee II
Crocodile Dundee II
"Crocodile" Dundee II is a 1988 Australian adventure and comedy film. It is a sequel to the 1986 film "Crocodile" Dundee, and was followed by 2001's Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles...
in 1988. He appeared as himself in the 1989 comedy Capuccino had a major role in the 1991 Wim Wenders
Wim Wenders
Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders is a German film director, playwright, author, photographer and producer.-Early life:Wenders was born in Düsseldorf. He graduated from high school in Oberhausen in the Ruhr area. He then studied medicine and philosophy in Freiburg and Düsseldorf...
film Until the End of the World
Until the End of the World
Until the End of the World is a 1991 film by the German film director Wim Wenders; the screenplay was written by Wenders and Peter Carey, from a story by Wenders and Solveig Dommartin. An initial draft of the screenplay was written by American filmmaker Michael Almereyda...
. In 1993 he starred in Blackfellas and he had a lead role in 1996's Dead Heart
Dead Heart (film)
Dead Heart is a 1996 Australian film. It was written and directed by Nick Parsons and starred Bryan Brown, Angie Milliken, Ernie Dingo, Aaron Pedersen and John Jarratt....
. In 1998 he starred in Somewhere in the Darkness. In 2010 he returned to the silver screen with a role in the Aboriginal musical Bran Nue Dae
Bran Nue Dae
Bran Nue Dae is a 1990 musical set in Broome, Western Australia that tells stories and of issues relating to Indigenous Australians. It was written by Jimmy Chi, his band Kuckles and friends and was the first Aboriginal musical. The musical was originally directed by Andrew Ross, a prominent...
along with Jessica Mauboy
Jessica Mauboy
Jessica Hilda Mauboy , is an Indigenous Australian R&B singer-songwriter and actress. In 2006, Mauboy was the runner-up on the fourth season of Australian Idol, she had auditioned for the talent show in Alice Springs to pursue a recording career...
and Geoffrey Rush
Geoffrey Rush
Geoffrey Roy Rush is an Australian actor and film producer. He is one of the few people who has won the "Triple Crown of Acting": an Academy Award, a Tony Award and an Emmy Award. He has won one Academy Award for acting , three British Academy Film Awards , two Golden Globe Awards and four Screen...
.
Television and other appearances
Dingo has hosted the television program The Great Outdoors since 1993. He has also appeared in many Australian television series such as The Flying DoctorsThe Flying Doctors
The Flying Doctors is an Australian drama series produced by Crawford Productions that revolved around the everyday lifesaving efforts of the real Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia....
, Heartbreak High
Heartbreak High
Heartbreak High is an Australian television series that ran for seven years from 1994 to 1999. The series dealt with the students of Hartley High, a tough high school in a multi-racial area of Sydney, and proved to be a more gritty and fast-paced show than many of its contemporaries...
and Rafferty's Rules
Rafferty's Rules
Rafferty's Rules was an Australian television drama series which ran from 1987 to 1990 on the Seven Network.The producers of the series were Posie Graeme-Evans , and Denis Phelen. The directors were Graham Thorburn, Mike Smith and Russell Webb...
. He appeared in the TV mini-series' The Cowra Breakout (1984), A Waltz Through The Hills (1987), (for which he won an AFI Award for Best Actor in a Television Drama) and Kings In Grass Castles (1997), as well as co-starring with Cate Blanchett
Cate Blanchett
Catherine Élise "Cate" Blanchett is an Australian actress. She came to international attention for her role as Elizabeth I of England in the 1998 biopic film Elizabeth, for which she won British Academy of Film and Television Arts and Golden Globe Awards, and earned her first Academy Award...
in the Australian television drama series Heartland
Heartland (Australian TV series)
Heartland was an Australian television drama series that ran on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1994. It ran for thirteen episodes and starred Cate Blanchett and Ernie Dingo...
(Heartland is known as Burned Bridges
Heartland (Australian TV series)
Heartland was an Australian television drama series that ran on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1994. It ran for thirteen episodes and starred Cate Blanchett and Ernie Dingo...
in the United States).
Ernie Dingo narrated the Indigenous segment of the 2000 Olympic Games opening ceremony in Sydney, New South Wales.
In May 2007, Dingo appeared as one of the celebrity performers on the celebrity reality singing competition It Takes Two. Dingo also hosts the short-lived series No Leave, No Life
No Leave, No Life
No Leave, No Life is an Australian lifestyle television series, hosted by Ernie Dingo from Season 1 then James Tobin from Season 2. The program features a celebrity guest presenter each week surprising ordinary Australians with a holiday, and the destination is then profiled...
, also on Channel Seven
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
.
Personal life
Ernie Dingo married Sally Butler, then a sales representative for 2Day FM, in 1989. Dingo discovered in 2004 that he had a daughter, named Zoe, from a brief relationship before his marriage. He also has a daughter called Alyssa Dingo and his wife also raised another grandchild Jurra, as well as their 16-year-old adopted daughter Wilara. Sally Dingo has authored two books about her husband and family, 2000's Ernie Dingo: King of the Kids and Dingo, The Story of our Mob in 1997. They live in the small town of Warrandyte, 24 kilometres northeast of Melbourne.Ernie Dingo was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1990, in recognition of his service to the performing arts.
Dingo is a prominent supporter of Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
, and in particular the Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
's West Coast Eagles
West Coast Eagles
The West Coast Eagles are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League. The club is based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and played its first games in the 1987 season. Its current home ground is Subiaco Oval...
. He was on the selection committee for the Indigenous Team of the Century
Indigenous Team of the Century
The Indigenous Team of the Century was selected to recognise the role of Indigenous Australians in the sport. It was announced in 2005 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first senior game played by an indigenous player, Fitzroy's Joe Johnson...
.
In 2010, two women from New South Wales and Victoria claimed to have engaged in affairs with Dingo. It was reported that they are living in an open marriage for the sake of their children. The claim of an open marriage was found to be false and was retracted.
Controversy
In December 2009, Ernie made controversial comments hitting out at "hypocritical white people who lecture Aborigines about alcohol consumption". "What you should be worrying about is who is giving them access ... who sells alcohol? Not black people," Dingo said. "We [Indigenous people] don't have a problem. Our problem is to say 'no' to you blokes, to white people ... 'no' is not really part of our cultural background." "There are more white alcoholics than there are black people in this country, so don't come at us with restrictions and Aboriginal laws about alcohol." "It upsets me a lot. I'm passionate about the fact that people talk – journalists talk – about Aboriginal people with our drinking problem. We don't have a drinking problem at all." "[The] Aboriginal drinking problem is white people selling to them."In August 2010, the WA Police Force
Western Australia Police
The Western Australia Police services an area of 2.5 million square kilometres, the world's largest non-federated area of jurisdiction. In 2008, its 7,526 employees included 5,647 police officers.-History:-Early history:...
announced they had opened an investigation into reports of child abuse by Ernie Dingo. It is alleged that Dingo slapped and verbally abused an 11-year boy at Carnarvon Primary School, and then made abusive comments singling out that particular boy while speaking at a school assembly shortly afterward. Dingo denied the claims, saying: "I deny it, but until there is an outcome I can't really talk about it." He entered a plea of not guilty by endorsement in a letter to the court and a date of 3 February 2011 was set for trial in Carnarvon. However, on 18 April 2011, following a mediation session, the assault charge was dropped and the matter formally withdrawn.