Mel Gibson (And Every Other Australian Celebrity) Actually Not Australian

By Ben Widdicombe Posted Jul 25th 2010 01:00PM

On behalf of my homeland, can we please get one thing perfectly clear? Mel Gibson is not Australian.

In fact, very few of the celebrities you probably think of as Australian were actually born in the land down under. (For that matter, the Men at Work hit 'Land Down Under'? Sung by a Scotsman.)

Even the country's own prime minister is not originally from Australia. In fact, in the following list of ten prominent people and musical acts you probably think of as Aussies, only one can claim to be truly Australian -- and even then, only by a whisker.

Olivia Newton-John, with her clean blonde looks and vowely accent, is considered by many to be the quintessential Australian celebrity. Koala Blue, the business she founded in 1983, sold Australian products and developed into a women's clothing label. In fact, Newton-John was born in the U.K. and lived in Australia relatively briefly, since as a teenager she won a talent competition whose prize was a ticket back to England. Her singing career flourished in Britain, the country she represented in the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, and later in the '70s she moved to Los Angeles, where she starred as Australian Sandy Olsson in 'Grease.' Australia still regards her as a national treasure, even though the time she spent in the country was minimal.

Nicole Kidman may have spent more years in Australia than Olivia Newton-John, but technically she's as American as Barack Obama. Like the 44th president, she was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and lived there until she was four years old. All three of her children are American-born, as was her first husband, Tom Cruise. But at least her current spouse, Keith Urban, is Australian, right? Actually, no: Keith was born in New Zealand.

As for the alleged-Aussie grabbing the most headlines today, Mel Gibson, the troubled star was actually born in Peekskill, NY. He moved to Sydney with his family in 1968 when he was 12, and returned to his native America in 1984. But his southern sojourn was long enough to launch his film career with three 'Mad Max' movies (which got perceptibly less Australian as the franchise became a hit in the U.S.) and a critically acclaimed Aussie war drama, 'Galipoli.' As "real Househusband" (and actual Aussie) Simon van Kempen recently told PopEater, Australia is in no hurry to claim the abusive actor as a native son.

Russell Crowe is another quick-tempered actor who people think of as exemplifying an image of Australia. But while he is a naturalized Australian citizen, Crowe, like Keith Urban, is actually a native Kiwi. Crowe bounced back and forth across the Tasman Sea during his early life, launching a music career in New Zealand and acting in Australia, but ultimately finding success in the United States.

Julia Gillard is not exactly a household name, but since she became Australia's first female prime minister on June 24, we're going to count her as a celebrity. Like the other notable names on the list, she was actually born overseas -- in her case, Wales. Unlike in the U.S., being born in another country does not bar a naturalized Australian from becoming the country's leader. Note: She is not Australia's Head of State -- that role belongs to yet another foreigner, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Many of the country's notable musical exports are not exactly "dinky-di" (an Australian expression meaning authentic), either. The Bee Gees started their career in Australia in the 1960s, but the Gibb brothers were originally from England and returned there as soon as they started to become successful. Soft rock duo Air Supply ('All Out Of Love,' 'Even The Nights Are Better') are half English, half Australian. And Colin Hay, the lead singer of Men at Work, whose 1981 mega-hit 'Land Down Under' is still synonymous with Australia, is actually Scottish.

Almost the only famous Aussie who actually qualifies for the title is Hugh Jackman -- and even he is barely Australian. Jackman was born in Sydney to English immigrant parents, and three of his four elder siblings were born in the U.K. But by the standards of Australia's mostly-non-Australian celebrities, that makes him practically carved out of Vegemite.

Tags: mel gibson

Comments

(47)

Sunday 25 July

By Casey

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I'm liking Alex O'Loughlin and Simon Baker...two very cute TV Aussies... :)

By shasel

How about a music group that has been around for nearly TWENTY years, and all members are Australian: THE WIGGLES! I KNOW the continent should be PROUD to claim them; I would in a heartbeat.

By mark

Dame edna
Mega star

By LYDIA CHERRI

Rick Springfield is a Dinky-di Aussie!!! Born in Merrylands, NSW Austrailia (a suburb out of Sydney)!!!

By jo jo

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Mel Gibson is a mental case. His wife and seven children should take the money and run. He did not respect his wife and children, he took Oksana to his bed, and created a child. Between Mel and Oksana, they don't make one whole person. Feel sorry for their child. Mel wanted Oksana, he got Oksana, sure hope it was worth the disgrace! The only up side to this story is that we the public will not be forced to pay for the child they created!

By Smokey

No wonder there aren't any celebrities from Australia - if you're born there but didn't grow up there you're not an Aussie; if you were born somewhere else but grew up there, you're not an Aussie. If you lived a substantial portion of your life there, but don't live there now, you're not a Aussie. The only way you can be an Australian "celebrity" is if you were born there, grew up there, never left there and no one has ever heard of you anywhere outside the country.

By cj

Are you serious? Did we have to be indigenous or descend directly from the convicts to qualify as Australian? I agree with smokey. My parents moved to Australia when I was two and I think of myself as 100% Australian.

By dtown

1. Cate Blanchett,
2. Hugo Weaving,
3. Geoffrey Rush,
4. Anthony LaPaglia,
5. Julian McMahon (NipTuck)
6. Jesse Spencer,
7. Anna Torv,
8. John Noble,
The list is actually a lot longer but I just can't be bothered. This is a waste of an article... didn't everyone already know these people weren't born in Oz?

By sara

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How weird that Australia is so desperate to claim all of these celebrities as Australian. They get mad if people state that fact that one of their favorite "Australians" isn't really Australian in the true sense of the word.

By Joe

By far, the best, most neglected Australian band of all- for more than 3 decades: The Church!!! Keep your music going, guys!

By NotanAussie

Donnie Darko FTW "Under the Milky Way"!!!

By mmhlewis

what about celebrity chef Curtis Stone? He's hotter than all of them!

By Yavana Kementari

Pugz, my point was the hypocrisy of the whole argument. When Mel didn't have a bad reputation, made millions of dollars and made Australia look good, they were more than happy to accept him. Now that he's got problems, they disown him. Hypocrisy. You don't just throw a perfectly good human being away when they are struggling. But maybe my sense of friendship is different than yours. I stick with mine when they're down. Apparently, you don't.

By JEB BUCKINGHAM

Crikey, you forgot about "Crocidile Dundee", and that "young Einstein" actor, Yahoo Serious!

Monday 26 July

By pinkmoonmae

Given that a quarter of all "Australians" were born overseas at any one time, and almost all of us are from immigrant backgrounds, I think you have to be more inclusive when using the term "Australian". That's what makes the country great: we're 21 million people who came together from all corners of the earth to create a nation. As far as I'm concerned, being "Australian" is a state of mind. If you feel Australian, you are. Russell Crowe claims to feel Australian. Gibson does not. There you go.

By mommabear0511

Hugh Hackman...the man is abosolutley gorgeous...love my Hugh!

By bcc

Someone should get on utube and so the sdame thing -LEAVE MEL GIBSON ALONE AND CRY. MEl is the man and what ever movies he makes im seeing just because he says what is true then the rich facist eleites go after him. There going after him because he said the truth where no American will because they do own everything even our government.

By crksr

I love double standards.! When his detractors talk about Bill Clinton being a womanizer and of lying about Monica, his admirers say: He was the best President America ever had!
When his detractor accuse Pete Rose of being a gambler and a cheat, his admirers say: He is the best Baseball player that ever lived.!
When McGuire finally confesses about being a junkie, his admirers say: He came clean, let's forgive him and give him a good job.!
Poor Mel.! Nobody seems willing to find any redeeming trait on him.

By DUDE

UM...OK

By wadahoot

How about the late wonderful man Steve Irwin?

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