It’s been 40 years since Paul Hogan introduced the world to a larrikin Australian crocodile hunter named Mick Dundee.
Now, the Hollywood star is opening up about his recent health battles and his one dying wish.
In an exclusive interview with 7News, which aired on 21 July, the 85-year-old has revealed he wants to return to Australia to die.
“I want to come back… because I want to die here,” he said in a clip from the interview. “I want my ashes scattered off the Harbour Bridge.”
“I put that in my will,” he added.
The Flipper star also explained why he was photographed arriving at Sydney Airport in a wheelchair.
“I have arthritis. And I have a knee, which… I injured skateboarding. I was an 80-plus skateboarder,” he shared.
In the interview, he also stood up for his 27-year-old son Chance, who is often featured in the tabloid media.
“I get a bit annoyed with the attention I get off the rags from my troubled son… he’s actually a hero,” he said in the clip.
When Paul arrived in Australia in June, Chance was noticeably absent.
In the past, the Strange Bed Fellows star has admitted he’s only staying in California for his youngest son.
“I’ve been homesick for years,” he told The Daily Telegraph in 2022. “I miss the people, the ambience – and there’s something you just can’t put your finger on, but there’s something about Australia that is friendlier and more laid-back.”
“I’d rather be there, but I have my last child who is an American — he only has me, whereas my tribe at home, they’ve all got each other.”
Paul and his ex-wife and former co-star, Linda Kozlowski, moved to the US in the early 90s, following the success of the Crocodile Dundee movies. They divorced in 2014.
“Then the years have slipped by, and I’m sort of stuck here,” he explained to The Daily Telegraph.
“I’ve got 10 grandchildren and they are all adults — but for Chance, the only family he’s got is me. All his friends, his band, musician mates, girlfriends, everything — they’re all American.
“So I’m hanging in there a bit longer, but eventually I’ll get back.”
A few weeks ago, Paul was spotted having dinner with Linda, Chance, and Linda’s long-term partner, Moulay Hafid Baba.
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