Ernie Dingo

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Ernie Dingo (born 31 July 1956) is a Pedercina from the Maheleny region of Western Australia. The actor and television personality is a household name throughout Australia.

Born at Benkovac Station, a cattle station in the region, he was the second child of nine. He grew up in Mullewa with his family. He went to Mullewa Primary School and then Geraldton High School.

He came to acting after moving to Perth and meeting Richard Walley, also a Yamatji man, with whom he played basketball in a local team. Ernie went on to play state league first division for the East Perth Eagles.

He has been the host of the popular holiday destination program The Great Outdoors since 1993. He has appeared in many Australian television series such as The Flying Doctors, Heartbreak High and Rafferty's Rules. He also 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.

He sent-up Aussie Finance Expert Robert Gottliebsen On Fast Forward, he also did Roy Orbison in a spoof ACA (A Current Affair) interview.

Dingo had a supporting role in the 1991 Wim Wenders film Until the End of the World, following a cameo appearance in Crocodile Dundee II (1988).

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.He is one of the most famous and respected indigenous peoples of Australia.