Richard Widmark, Another Great Legend Gone.

Those who read my blog would be aware that I am a bit of a
movie buff. I have done a number of posts on movie stars.
Another great movie star of yesterday, Richard Widmark has
moved onto that big movie studio in the sky.
I have followed Richard’s career since “Red Skies of Montana”
in 1952. I was 12 years old and my mother who loved movies
had taken me to see this film. The next film I saw was “Don’t
Bother to Knock” with a young Marilyn Monroe. I later saw
his first film “Kiss of Death” and “Panic in the Streets” on TV,
and I was rapted in Richard’s acting style as he had such
a strong personality on the screen.
Whenever a new Richard Widmark came out I would soon
be at the cinema eager to see his new film.

Richard Widmark, the actor who gave cinema one of its
greatest villains with his performance as Tommy Udo in
the film noir classic 'Kiss of Death', has died. He was 93.
The actor, who was Oscar-nominated for his role as Udo,
passed away on Monday 24th March at his home in Connecticut.

Born in Minnesota in 1914, Widmark had intended to become
a lawyer but changed direction when he performed in plays in
college. Among his other famous films were 'Pick Up on South
Street', 'Night and the City', 'Broken Lance', 'The Alamo' and
'How the West Was Won'. He is survived by his wife Susan,
whom he married in 1999, and daughter Anne from his first
marriage to the late writer Jean Hazelwood.

Before he was a movie star, Widmark was a movie buff.
When he was four, his Scottish grandfather started taking
the toddler to silent films, and he became a great fan of
star Boris Karloff. As a teen, Widmark could smooth-talk
his way out of trouble. He was elected class president in
high school, and his intent was to become an attorney.
When his college announced plans to stage Counsellor at
Law, a then-popular play about a lawyer, the brash
Widmark auditioned for the lead. He won the role, and he
knew on opening night that playing a lawyer was more
enjoyable than being one, so he decided to become an
actor instead.

Widmark was born on Dec. 26, 1914 in Sunrise, Minn.,

and grew up in Princeton, Ill. As a child he appeared in

three of the Our Gang series (I never knew that) before

leaving acting to return to his studies. He attended Lake

Forest College, north of Chicago, where he first took an

interest in acting. After he graduated in 1938, Widmark

taught acting at the college. Subsequently, he landed a

radio job in New York on a show titled "Aunt Jenny's Real
Life Stories" and made his Broadway stage debut five

years later in "Kiss and Tell" (1943). Because of a

perforated eardrum, Widmark dis not serve in World War II.

Four years later in 1947, he got his big movie break when
he was cast as the psychotic Tommy Udo in "Kiss of Death."
He then signed a seven-year contract with 20th Century Fox.
His early films included performances in a number of bad-guy
roles in such fare as "Road House" (1948) with Ida Lupino
and Cornel Wilde. He was particularly chilling as a nasty racist
in "No Way Out" (1950), constantly goading a young intern
played by Sidney Poitier.

Richard Widmark in his first film role "Kiss of Death"

Rejected by the Army because of a punctured eardrum,
Widmark began appearing in Broadway plays in 1943.
His first was a comedy hit "Kiss and Tell." He was appearing
in the Chicago company of "Dream Girl" with June Havoc
when 20th Century Fox signed him to a seven-year contract.
He almost missed out on the "Kiss of Death" role.

Widmark's first movie appearance was in 1947's "Kiss of
Death", as the giggling, sociopathic villain Tommy Udo.
His most notorious scene in the film found Udo pushing a
wheelchair-bound old woman (played by Mildred Dunnock)
down a flight of stairs to her death. "Kiss of Death" was
a commercial and critical success, and started Widmark's
seven-year contract with 20th Century Fox.
He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best
Supporting Actor and won the Golden Globe Award for
New Star Of The Year - Actor for his performance.

Two scenes from "Kiss of Death" and with co-star Victor Mature.

Director Elia Kazan cast Widmark in his thriller "Panic in
the Streets" (1950) not as the heavy - that role went to
Jack Palance - but as the physician who tracks down
Palance, who has the plague, in tandem with detective
Paul Douglas. Widmark was establishing himself as a real
presence in the genre that later would be hailed as "film noir".

Widmark, who was usually associated with villainous roles,
played another heavy in the film noir "Road House" the
following year. Yet he made his mark as the cynical hero
of Samuel Fuller's "Pickup on South Street" in 1953.
His gritty persona also suited him well for Westerns,
playing in such John Ford Westerns as "Two Rode Together"
and "Cheyenne Autumn." He played the title role in the New
York cop story, "Madigan" (1968) for director Don Siegel.
Throughout his career, Widmark was especially gifted in
showing the psychological cracks and ticks of otherwise
solid authority figures.

This is a screen "dump" of the title from his screen debut.
(altho' this is not Richard in the photo).

During a interview Richard laughed when he talked about
this film — and the famous scene in which he pushes
wheelchair bound Mildred Dunnock down a flight of stairs.
“You make 50 fifty movies over a lifetime and that’s the one
they remember you for,” he chuckled.
He told me that he never had “a great movie” but I differ.
He had several: “Night and the City,” “Pick up on South
Street,” “The Street with No Name,” and “No Way Out”
are all classics.

Here are a couple of things he told during a interview:
Karl Malden was his oldest friend. They’d met in 1938 doing
radio work. About his contemporary Robert Mitchum:
“I liked old Bob but he was a real bull shitter. We were in
different worlds. He was in the booze world.”
Bette Davis, he said, was “tough.” Marilyn Monroe
“was a ding dong.' I liked old Marilyn.
No one could get her out on the set.”

He told an interviewer in later years on Marilyn Monroe:
"She wanted to be this great star but acting just scared
the hell out of her. That's why she was always late - you
couldn't get her on the set. She had trouble remembering
lines. But none of it mattered. With a very few special
people, something happens between the lens and the film
that is pure magic. ... And she really had it."

Widmark was at his best with characters that had a steely
edge. He played a range of these types in a number of genres,
including the war story "Halls of Montezuma," the romantic
comedy "Tunnel of Love" and the Westerns "Yellow Sky"
and "Broken Lance."

His seven-year contract at Fox was expiring, and Zanuck
- who would not renew the deal - cast him in the Western
Broken Lance (1954) in a decidedly supporting role, billed
beneath not only Spencer Tracy but even Robert Wagner
and Jean Peters. The film was well-respected, and it won
an Oscar nomination for best screenplay.

Richard and The Duke "John Wayne" from "The Alamo".

During the late 1950s, he began to produce films under
his own banner, Heath Prods. Widmark also performed in
"Judgment at Nuremeberg" and "The Bedford Incident".
Perhaps Widmark's finest performance came in "The Bedford
Incident", a very effective thriller, now generally-forgotten.
As the stern commander of a US Navy destroyer on cold war
patrol, Widmark's crew detects a Soviet submarine in the
frigid waters of the Atlantic Ocean, and pursues the enemy
vessel with dogged determination. In addition to starring,
Widmark also produced the film, because he liked its
ominous anti-war message.

If you haven’t seen “The Bedford Incident” I recommend
you go out and purchase this on DVD as this shows Richard
Widmark at his acting best.

Widmark appeared in two Westerns directed by John Ford
with co-star James Stewart in "Two Rode Together" (1961)
and as the top star in Ford's apologia for Indian genocide,
"Cheyenne Autumn' (1964). On "Two Rode Together",
Ford feuded with Jimmy Stewart over his hat. Stewart
insisted on wearing the same hat he had for a decade of
highly successful Westerns that had made him one of the
top box office stars of the 1950s.

Appearing in the better part of 100 movies over a career
that spanned 50 years, Richard Widmark although not a
"superstar" on his own, he played supporting roles
alongside the biggest names there ever were: with John
Wayne in "How The West Was Won" and "The Alamo",
Gregory Peck and Anne Baxter in "Yellow House", Spencer
Tracy and Burt Lancaster in "Judgement at Nuremberg" or
holding Marilyn Monroe in his arms in "Don't Bother To Knock".

In 1961, Widmark acquitted himself quite well as the
prosecutor in producer-director Stanley Kramer's
"Judgment at Nuremberg" (1961), appearing with
the Oscar-nominated Spencer Tracy and the Oscar
winning 'Maximilian Schell', as well as with superstar
Burt Lancaster and acting genius Montgomery Clift
and the legendary 'Judy Garland' (the latter two
winning Oscar nods for their small roles). This was
also a superb fim and if you haven't seen it it's worth
going out and getting it on DVD.

............Richard in the role from "Judgment from Nuremberg"

Widmark continued to co-star in A-pictures through
the 1960s. He capped off the decade with one of his
finest performances, as the amoral police detective in
Don Siegel's gritty cop melodrama "Madigan" (1968).
Watching "Madigan", one can see Widmark's characters
as a progression in the evolution of what would become
the late 1960s nihilistic anti-hero, such as those embodied
by Clint Eastwood in Siegel's "Dirty Harry".

I remembered watching the TV series Richard made
from the movie “Madigan” and he was just as superb
in the only six 90 minute episodes that were made as a
spin off from the movie.

Richard Widmark from the movie "Madigan"

In later years, Widmark appeared sparingly in films
and TV. He explained to Parade magazine in 1987:
"I've discovered in my dotage that I now find the
whole moviemaking process irritating. I don't have
the patience anymore. I've got a few more years to
live, and I don't want to spend them sitting around a
movie set for 12 hours to do two minutes of film."

Richard Widmark poses on the balcony of the Deauville Casino in 1991.

Widmark was married for 50 years to the same woman,
his beloved Jean Hazelwood. He lost the desire to act
when his wife of more than fifty years, became ill in the
early 1990s. Two years after her 1997 death, he married
Susan Blanchard, the stepdaughter of Oscar Hammerstein
and ex-wife of Widmark's longtime friend Henry Fonda.

Widmark’s last film was “True Colors” in 1991.
After that, he didn’t see the need to continue.
His favorite actors? “Spencer Tracy, Henry Fonda and
Jimmy Stewart. I’d go back to work if I could work with
those guys. I loved them.”

There’s not many stars of yesteryear left and I’m glad
I’ve lived through the 50 and 60’s to see, watch and
enjoy the performances of these great stars both male
and female who helped to lighten up our lives on the big
screen. Although Richard Widmark has not acted for
some years his performances will be around for years to
come to watch on DVD. Thanks Mr. Widmark for giving
many of us your winning performances.

Click on the video to see part of “Kiss of Death”

HMAS Sydney Found After 67 Years

After 67 years the HMAS Sydney which was sunk with all hands
with a battle with the German Raider the "Kormoran" has finally
been found at a depth of 2468 metres (nearly 2.5 kilometers beneath the surface).

Peter and I drove around Australia in 2002, and on the 17th May, 2007
I did a post titled "Brisbane to Perth with Holtie" Part 8. In this post I
covered quite a lot of the action that took place during this encounter,
along with a number of photos I took at the memorial at Geraldton in
Western Australia.


.....................Click the above item to view larger size.

This article was in our local paper "The Courier Mail."
Click on the above article to enlarge the text.



Hopefully, this is the wreckage of the HMAS Sydney, as there is still some doubt that this is not the Sydney, but if it is then closure will be a blessing for those relatives who have wondered all these years about the whereabouts and outcome of the resting place of the HMAS Sydney.

The wreck of the Sydney will be protected under the 1976
Historic Shipwrecks Act and be treated as a War Grave.

They shall not grow old as we who are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Smoky Dawson, Australia's First Cowboy

My interest in country music goes way back to when I was quite young. This would have been in the late 50’s and I had a small portable radio. At 5am every morning there was a radio programme of western music and one of the first songs I can remember listening to was Smoky Dawson singing “On Top of Old Smoky”

"On Top of Old Smoky" is a traditional folk song of the United States reached the pop music charts in 1951.

“On top of Old Smoky, all covered with snow
I lost my true lover, for courting too slow...”

Another popular group who recorded the song was the Swedish group “Abba”.

Smoky Dawson MBE was an Australian country music performer. He was Australia's first cowboy and a pioneer of Australian country music. Smoky and his horse Flash were legendary. An entire generation of young Australians grew up listening to his radio show and abiding by his 'code of the west'.

Smoky’s radio show adventures were broadcast for a decade. Each week there was an exciting adventure involving Smoky, his companion Jingles, and Smoky’s wonder horse Flash. The stories all took place in the Australian outback. For nearly twenty years, Smoky and Flash were also an important part of Sydney’s annual Waratah Festival Parade.

....................................Smoky and his horse Flash.

Smokey was born Herbert Henry Dawson in Collingwood, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne and raised in the rural area of Warrnambool, his parents died at an early age, resulting in his living for several years in an orphanage.

At the age of thirteen Smokey met Ned Kelly's brother at a meeting of the Kelly clan. Smokey even witnessed the rounding up of the Kelly family by the authorities and told Peter he can't help but feel they were unfairly persecuted.

When Dot met Smoky he was in a band called the South Sea Island Boys with his brother Ted and it wasn’t long before he discovered radio, hillbilly music and yodelling.

His first bright and joyful recording, made in 1941 at Homebush, with the legendary producer Arch Kerr, “I’m a Happy Go Lucky Cowhand”, summed up his image perfectly. It was the first of a immense repertoire of original recordings.

After a stint in the army Smoky picked up where he left off and success swept the Dawsons into an incredible life of stardom, recording and touring, sometimes with Stan Gill’s Rodeo. Smoky, became a yodelling, whip cracking, knife throwing, film acting, song writing, singing, matinee idol, radio & TV super star…

When he returned from the war, he married Florence "Dot" Cheers in 1944, and they travelled to the United States to record, and play at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. When he returned to Australia in 1952 he started in his own radio show, The Adventures of Smoky Dawson, which stayed on the air for ten years. At its peak the show was broadcast on 69 stations across the country.

.......Smoky Dawson with his beloved wife, Dot.

As well as working as a singer and for the ABC, Smokey also spent a number of years in the United States and even appeared in musicals such as 'Kiss Me Kate'.

A long career of recording and performing followed his radio show, and till his death still enjoyed performing. He has frequently been recognized for his contributions to music and entertainment. In 1978 he was awarded an MBE for his services to country music. In 1983 he was named to the Australian Country Music Roll of Renown. In 1988 he appeared in two episodes of the Australian Drama serial A Country Practice as a drifter who passes through Wandin Valley and proposes to town gossip, Esme Watson. His performance was so popular with viewers, that he made another appearance in 1989. In 2005 he was inducted into the Australian Record Industry Association Hall of Fame. He has also been recognized in the United States, and has been awarded the Honor Award of the Grand Ole Opry. In April 2007 he donated his first electric guitar to the Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame.

His final album, Homestead of My Dreams, was released in 2005 - at which point he became the oldest recording artist in the world.
His latest DVD featuring new performances was completed just this month. Smoky was renowned for being a mentor to younger country singers, and some of the industry's stars have paid tribute to the performer.

Australian of the Year, singer Lee Kernaghan, called Dawson "an Aussie icon" and "a national treasure". "Smoky Dawson was much more than one of Australian country music's greatest pioneers - he was a legend in every sense of the word," Kernaghan said.

Singer John Williamson agreed Dawson was the real deal.
"I reckon I could safely say he's the last of the singing cowboys that had the horse," he told Fairfax Radio Network.

Dawson died after a short illness on February 14th, 2008. At the age of 94, he was the oldest recording artist in the world at the time of his death. He was survived by his wife, Dot of 64 years, who is 101.

My New Car and some Funnies

On Friday I picked up my first new car.
Previously I had only purchased second hand cars.
The car I purchased was a Hyundai Getz SX Hatch,
3 door, manual with all the “mod cons.”
I now join Robyn (Puss in Boots) from Kat’s Cradle
who had one of the first Getzs in Queensland.

Now no comments on the length of the grass as we
have had quite a large amount of….rain, something
we haven’t had for a long time, so it’s worth getting,
thus my lawn mower man hasn’t had a chance to
come and cut the lawn.

OLDER THAN DIRT

"Hey Dad," one of my kids asked the other day, "What was your favourite fast food when you were growing up?"
"We didn't have fast food when I was growing up," I informed him. "All the food was slow."
"C'mon, seriously. Where did you eat?"
"It was a place called 'at home,'" I explained. "Grandma cooked every day and when Grandpa got home from work, we sat down together at the dining room table, and if I didn't like what she put on my plate I was allowed to sit there until I did like it."

By this time, the kid was laughing so hard I was afraid he was going to suffer serious internal damage, so I didn't tell him the part about how I had to have permission to leave the table. But here are some other things I would have told him about my childhood if I figured his system could have handled it:
Some parents NEVER owned their own house, wore Levis, set foot on a golf course, travelled out of the country or had a credit card. In their later years they had something called a store card. The card was good only at Farmers (now Myers).
My parents never drove me to soccer practice. This was mostly because we never had heard of soccer. I had a bicycle that weighed probably 50 pounds, and only had one speed, (slow). We didn't have a television in our house until I was 11, but my grandparents had one before that. It was, of course, black and white, but they bought a piece of coloured plastic to cover the screen. The top third was blue, like the sky, and the bottom third was green, like grass. The middle third was red. It was perfect for programs that had scenes of fire trucks riding across someone's lawn on a sunny day. Some people had a lens taped to the front of the TV to make the picture look larger.
I was 13 before I tasted my first pizza it was called "pizza pie." When I bit into it, I burned the roof of my mouth and the cheese slid off, swung down, plastered itself against my chin and burned that, too. It's still the best pizza I ever had.
We didn't have a car until I was 15. Before that, the only car in our family was my grandfather's Ford. He called it a "machine."
I never had a telephone in my room. The only phone in the house was in the living room and it was on a party line. Before you could dial, you had to listen and make sure some people you didn't know weren't already using the line.
Pizzas were not delivered to our home. But milk was.
All newspapers were delivered by boys and all boys delivered newspapers. I delivered a newspaper, six days a week. It cost 7 cents a paper, of which I got to keep 2 cents. I had to get up at 4 AM every morning. On Saturday, I had to collect the 42 cents from my customers. My favourite customers were the ones who gave me 50 cents and told me to keep the change. My least favourite customers were the ones who seemed to never be home on collection day.
Movie stars kissed with their mouths shut. At least, they did in the movies. Touching someone else's tongue with yours was called French kissing and they didn't do that in movies. I don't know what they did in French movies. French movies were dirty and we weren't allowed to see them.
If you grew up in a generation before there was fast food, you may want to share some of these memories with your children or grandchildren. Just don't blame me if they bust a gut laughing.
Growing up isn't what it used to be, is it?

MEMORIES from a friend:

My Dad is cleaning out my grandmother's house (she died in December) and he brought me an old tomato sauce bottle. In the bottle top was a stopper with a bunch of holes in it. I knew immediately what it was, but my daughter had no idea. She thought they had tried to make it a salt shaker or something. I knew it as the bottle that sat on the end of the ironing board to "sprinkle" clothes with because we didn't have steam irons. Man, I am old.

Older Than Dirt Quiz:

How many do you remember?

Count all the ones that you remember not the ones you were told about. Ratings at the bottom.

1.Cho Cho bar
2.Drive ins
3.Candy cigarettes
4.Soft drink machines that dispensed glass bottles
5.Coffee shops or milk bars with tableside juke boxes
6.Home milk delivery in glass bottles with foil
stoppers
7.Party lines
8.Newsreels before the movie
9.Packards
10. Blue flashbulb
11.Telephone numbers with 2 letters and 4 numbers
12. Peashooters
13.Wash tub wringer
14.78 RPM records
15.Metal ice trays with lever
16.Studebakers
17.Cracker night
18.Using hand signals for cars without turn signals
19.Bread delivered by horse and cart
20.Head lights dimmer switches on the floor
21.Ignition switches on the dashboard
22.Heaters mounted on the inside of the wall
23.Real ice boxes
24.Pant leg clips for bicycles without chain guards
25.Soldering irons you heat on a gas burner

If you remembered 0-5 = You're still young
If you remembered 6-10 = You are getting older
If you remembered 11-15 = Don't tell your age,
If you remembered 16-25 = You're older than dirt!

I might be older than dirt but those memories are the best part of my life.

A drunken man walks into a biker bar, sits down at
the bar and orders a drink.
Looking around, he sees three men sitting at a corner table. He gets up, staggers to the table,
leans over, looks the biggest, meanest, biker in the face and says: 'I went by your grandma's house today and I saw her in the hallway buck naked. Man, she is one fine looking woman!' The biker looks at him and doesn't say a word.
His buddies are confused, because he is one bad biker and would fight at the drop of a hat. The drunk leans on the table again and says: 'I got it on with your grandma and she is good, the best I ever had!' The biker's buddies are starting to get really mad but the biker still says nothing. The drunk leans on the table one more time and says,
'I'll tell you something else, boy, your grandma liked it!' At this point the biker stands up, takes the drunk by the shoulders looks him square in the eyes and

says................................................

'Grandpa,....... Go home, you're drunk.'

Note to self: 'Cancel credit cards prior to death!

Be sure and cancel your credit cards before you die! This is so priceless
and so easy to see happening - customer service, being what it is today!

A lady died this past January, and ANZ bank billed her for February and
March for their annual service charges on her credit card, and
Then added late fees and interest on the monthly charge. The balance had
been $0.00, now is somewhere around $60.00.
A family member placed a call to the ANZ Bank:
Family Member:
'I am calling to tell you that she died in January.'
ANZ:
'The account was never closed and the late fees and charges still apply.'
Family Member:
'Maybe, you should turn it over to collections.'
ANZ:
'Since it is two months past due, it already has been.'
Family Member:
So, what will they do when they find out she is dead?'
ANZ:
'Either report her account to the frauds division or report her to
the credit bureau, maybe both!'
Family Member:
'Do you think God will be mad at her?'
ANZ:
'Excuse me?'
Family Member:
'Did you just get what I was telling you . . . The part about her
being dead?'
ANZ:
'Sir, you'll have to speak to my supervisor.'
Supervisor gets on the phone:
Family Member:
'I'm calling to tell you, she died in January.'
ANZ:
'The account was never closed and the late fees and charges still apply.'
Family Member:
'You mean you want to collect from her estate?'
ANZ:
(Stammer) 'Are you her lawyer?'
Family Member:
'No, I'm her great nephew.'
(Lawyer info given)
ANZ:
'Could you fax us a certificate of death?'
Family Member:
'Sure.'
( fax number is given )
After they get the fax:
ANZ:
'Our system just isn't set up for death. I don't know what more I
can do to help.'
Family Member:
'Well, if you figure it out, great! If not, you could just keep billing
her. I don't think she will care.'
ANZ:
'Well, the late fees and charges do still apply.'
Family Member:
'Would you like her new billing address?'
ANZ:
'That might help.'
Family Member:
Rookwood Memorial Cemetery, 1249 Centenary Rd, Sydney, Plot Number
1049.'
ANZ:
'Sir, that's a cemetery!'
Family Member:
'Well, what the f**k do you do with dead people on your planet?'

I thought of the recipes Lee posts on her blog when I saw this recipe.

Here is a chicken recipe that also includes the use of popcorn as a stuffing - imagine that! When I found this recipe, I thought it was perfect for people like me, who just are not sure how to tell when poultry is thoroughly cooked, but not dried out. Give this a try.

Size 18 chicken
1 cup melted butter
1 cup stuffing
1 cup of uncooked popcorn
Salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 220c.

Brush chicken well with melted butter, salt and pepper. Fill cavity with stuffing and popcorn. Place in baking pan with the neck end towards the back of the oven. Listen to the popping sounds. When the chicken's arse blows the oven door open and the chicken flies across the room, it is done.

And you thought I couldn't cook !

STAY!

I pulled into the crowded parking lot at the
Super Wal-Mart Shopping Center and rolled
down the car windows to make sure my
Labrador Retriever Pup had fresh air.

She was stretched full-out on the back seat
and I wanted to impress upon her that she must
remain there. ! I walked to the curb backward,
pointing my finger at the car and saying emphatically,
"Now you stay. Do you hear me?"
"Stay! Stay!"

The driver of a nearby car, a pretty blonde young lady,
gave me a strange look and said,

"Why don't you just put it in park?"

Australia Day 26th January, 2008

Lee Kernaghan, one of Australia's best known and loved country singers
was named Australian of the Year.
Lee's singing style is similar to American country greats, George Strait
and Alan Jackson.
Country music star Lee Kernaghan says he'll never be the new Slim Dusty.
The late Slim Dusty was named Senior Australian of the Year in 1999 and
had a record 37 Golden Guitars under his belt.

Kernaghan has already won 24 country music awards over his 15-year career,
coming second only to the late Slim Dusty.

'Nobody will ever overtake the King', Kernaghan said.

'There is only one king of Australian music, and that's Slim. I think of him
in the same way I think of Henry Lawson or Banjo Patterson, he's an Australian hero'.

The boy from the bush is back in town, with country music star Lee Kernaghan named Australian of the Year for 2008.

A proud Kernaghan, 43, admitted he was surprised at the honour but said he would use his new role to help farmers battling the drought.

The Victorian-born singer and songwriter was anointed successor to climate change crusader Tim Flannery at a ceremony outside Parliament House in Canberra on Friday night.

Naming him Australian of the Year, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said: "Lee Kernaghan's music resonates with every Australian by connecting us all to the spirit of the bush, but more importantly he gives hope and pride to those on the land when they need inspiration most.

"He has rolled up his sleeves to make a real difference for those in need in rural Australia."

Kernaghan, the son of country artist Ray Kernaghan, scored his first number one hit with 1995's Boys from the Bush and has gone on to sell over a million albums and pick up numerous Golden Guitar awards at Tamworth.

But it is his personal commitment to rural Australia that put him in front of other candidates for this year's award.

Over the past 10 years, the country star has led "Pass the Hat Around" and "Spirit of the Bush" tours, raising more than a million dollars for communities in need, particularly drought-ravaged families.

Kernaghan said being named Australian of the Year was the proudest moment of his life.

Spirit Of The Bush - Featuring Lee Kernaghan,
Adam Brand, Steve Forde and The McClymonts

Aussie Poem for Australia Day.

The sun was hot already - it was only 8 o'clock

The cocky took off in his Ute, to go and check his stock.

He drove around the paddocks checking wethers, ewes and lambs,

The float valves in the water troughs, the windmills on the dams.

He stopped and turned a windmill on to fill a water tank

And saw a ewe down in the dam, a few yards from the bank.

"Typical bloody sheep," he thought, "they've got no common sense,

"They won't go through a gateway but they'll jump a bloody fence."

The ewe was stuck down in the mud, he knew without a doubt

She'd stay there 'til she carked it if he didn't get her out.

But when he reached the water's edge, the startled ewe broke free

And in her haste to get away, began a swimming spree.

He reckoned once her fleece was wet, the weight would drag her down

If he didn't rescue her, the stupid sod would drown.

Her style was unimpressive, her survival chances slim

He saw no other option, he would have to take a swim.

He peeled his shirt and singlet off, his trousers, boots and socks

And as he couldn't stand wet clothes, he also shed his jocks.

He jumped into the water and away that cocky swam

He caught up with her, somewhere near the middle of the dam

The ewe was quite evasive, she kept giving him the slip

He tried to grab her sodden fleece but couldn't get a grip.

At last he got her to the bank and stopped to catch his breath

She showed him little gratitude for saving her from death.

She took off like a Bondi tram around the other side

He swore next time he caught that ewe he'd hang her bloody hide.

Then round and round the dam they ran, although he felt quite puffed

He still thought he could run her down, she must be nearly stuffed.

The local stock rep came along, to pay a call that day.

He knew this bloke was on his own, his wife had gone away

He didn't really think he'd get fresh scones for morning tea

But nor was he prepared for what he was about to see.

He rubbed his eyes in disbelief at what came into view

For running down the catchment came this frantic-looking ewe.

And on her heels in hot pursuit and wearing not a stitch

The farmer yelling wildly "Come back here, you lousy bitch!"

The stock rep didn't hang around, he took off in his car

The cocky's reputation has been damaged near and far

So bear in mind the Work Safe rule when next you check your flocks

Spot the hazard, assess the risk, and always wear your jocks!