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Paul Joseph Mercurio (born 31 March 1963) is an Australian actor, dancer and TV presenter. Mercurio is well known for his lead role in Baz Luhrmann's Strictly Ballroom (1992). His father was the character actor Gus Mercurio.

Biography[link]

Mercurio was born in Swan Hill, Victoria in 1963 and began ballet at nine. By the age of 19 in 1982, he was Principal Dancer with the Sydney Dance Company – a position he held for 10 years. During this time, he was commissioned to choreograph six works performed by the company. Mercurio left the Sydney Dance Company to found the Australian Choreographic Ensemble which danced from 1992 to 1998, where he was the Director, Principal Dancer and Principal Choreographer.

Mercurio made his film debut in Strictly Ballroom, receiving an Australian Film Institute Award nomination in 1993. His film credits have included: Exit to Eden, Back of Beyond, Cosi, Red Ribbon Blues, Welcome to Woop Woop, The Dark Planet, The First 9½ Weeks, Kick and Sydney: A Story of a City. He starred, wrote, choreographed, produced and directed the short film Spilt Milk. Mercurio made his TV debut in a documentary on his life called Life's Burning Desire in 1992. He starred in the lead role of Joseph in the Emmy award–winning US TV mini-series The Bible: Joseph in 1995.

Mercurio has appeared in popular Australian shows such as, Blue Heelers, All Saints, Murder Call, Medivac, Heartbreak High, Water Rats and The Day of the Roses. Mercurio continues to dance and choreograph professionally. He was a movement consultant on the Will Smith movie I, Robot, and has choreographed an American TV campaign for Coca Cola, the Harry M Miller production of Jesus Christ Superstar and Annie Get Your Gun. In January 2004, he appeared on stage in The Full Monty. Mercurio teaches full time students at Dance World Studios in Melbourne, Australia.^{[citation needed]}

Mercurio was a judge on both the Australian and New Zealand versions of Dancing with the Stars until August 2008, when he was dropped from the judging panel of the Australian version.^[1] Dancing with the Stars Australia was broadcoast on Channel Seven from 2004 to 2007. He has been a judge in the New Zealand version since 2006.^[2] In 2008, he began hosting a series called Mercurio's Menu where he travels Australia, cooking in different locations.

References[link]

1. ^ http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/story/0,26278,24166721-5016681,00.html
2. ^ "New faces for Dancing with the Stars". TVNZ. http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/488124/2419826. Retrieved 1 March 2009. 

External links[link]

• Paul Mercurio at the Internet Movie Database
• Paul Mercurio biography at AustraliaDancing
• Mercurio's Menu Mercurio's Menu

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (August 2011)

Paul Mecurio is a Rhode Island-born comedian^[1] featured on Comedy Central Presents. A lawyer by education (graduated from Georgetown University Law Center), Mecurio took up stand-up comedy after working as an investment banker and merger and acquisitions lawyer.

Early career[link]

A native of Providence, Rhode Island, Mecurio graduated with honors from Georgetown University Law Center and began his career on Wall Street as a mergers and acquisitions lawyer at the law firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher, and later as an investment banker at CS First Boston. At the same time Mecurio was honing a second career writing and performing comedy, and was hired by Jay Leno to write jokes for The Tonight Show. In 1995, with the encouragement of Leno, Mecurio left Wall Street and began a career as a stand-up comedian.

[edit] The Daily Show

In 1996, Mecurio was invited to be on the original writing team for a new Comedy Central show called The Daily Show. In 2001, as a writer for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Mecurio won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement In Writing In A Variety, Music or Comedy Program. For his work on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Indecision 2000, Mecurio was honored with a Peabody Award for Excellence in Broadcasting. In 2002, Mecurio received his second Emmy nomination for his work on The Daily Show. Mecurio has also been featured in The Daily Show segment, “Second Opinion,” in which he skewered the medical profession playing an HMO representative with a less than sympathetic mindset.

Stand-up, television and film[link]

Mecurio has performed at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal and made numerous TV appearances, including The Late, Late Show with Craig Kilborn, Comedy Central’s Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, NBC’s Late Friday, Comedy Central’s Dr. Katz, and numerous appearances on VH1’s popular clip shows. He has been a guest on Fox News Channel, and makes regular appearances on CNN, CNNfn, and MSNBC as a political satirist.

Mecurio was seen in a guest-starring role opposite John Cleese in the ABC sitcom Wednesday at 9:30, and shot a television pilot set in New York City for producer/directors Barry Levinson and Tom Fontana. He can also be seen in the upcoming film drama, High Art, Low Life, written and directed by Peter Nourjian and recently shot the lead role in the independent film Faux Pix.

Mecurio has written, produced, and directed five short films, the latest of which, Gloves, an off-center dark comedy has been screened at several prestigious film festivals, including The US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, the Toronto Film Festival, The Los Angeles Independent Film Festival, and the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain. Mecurio also worked on the film American Buffalo, starring Dustin Hoffman and Dennis Franz based on the award-winning David Mamet play of the same name.

On May 21, 2004, Mecurio premiered his own “Comedy Central Presents” half-hour special. He was featured as a political satirist in the 2004 Presidential Election coverage by The Daily News, CNN, MSNBC, CNNfn, and ESPN2. Mecurio has also been working as the warm-up comic for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire with Meredith Vieira.

Mecurio is currently the warm-up comic for The Daily Show, and is a regular guest on the Fox News comedy/talk show Red Eye.

[edit] Sports Central

Mecurio shot the television pilot Sports Central, that he co-created, and executive produced and in which he starred.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website

Chesty Bond is a long-lived fictional cartoon character and trademark for the Australian clothing company Bonds. Originally created in 1938 as part of a merchandising campaign to sell men's underwear (and the singlet in particular), Chesty Bond is recognised by many Australians as a popular national icon.

The character was a co-creation of cartoonist Syd Miller^[1][2][3] and Ted Maloney,^[4] the Bond's account executive at advertising agency, J. Walter Thomkpson.^[5][6] Devised in 1938, Chesty Bond only made periodic appearances along with another Bond's comic strip, Aussie History,^[5] until it was decided in 1940 to make the strip a regular feature.^[5] Beginning in March 1940, Chesty Bond was featured three times each week in Sydney's Sun newspaper,^[5][6] and by 1942 it had been extended to five days a week.^[6] When Miller joined the Herald and Weekly Times in 1945^[6] the strip was taken over by Francis 'Will' Mahoney, who continued to draw it until 1950.^[5][6] The strip was then handled by Virgil Reilly before being passed on to Cee Linaker, followed by John Santry^[7] until it was retired in 1964.^[5][6] Chesty Bond was one of the most successful daily advertising strip running for over 20 years.

Chesty, with his characteristically powerful jutting jaw and impressive physique, became a superhero when he pulled on his trusty Chesty Bond Athletic vest.^[5] As a result of the successful campaign, Chesty Bond became the archetypal Australian hero synonymous with Australian masculinity and an icon recognised Australia-wide. Chesty Bond also wears Bonds Boxer shorts, known for their comfortable fit.

In 2009, Pacific Brands, the owner of Bonds, announced seven manufacturing site closures and job cuts totalling 1,850^[8] and that the manufacture of all Bonds products will now be in China.^[9]

External links[link]

• Bonds - Our Story - Bonds information article.
• Nursing the Bond with Chesty - University of Sydney News article, 6 January 2000

References[link]

1. ^ "How Chesty Bond was born". Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media): p. 6. 29 December 1982. http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19821226&id=lZ5WAAAAIBAJ&sjid=O-cDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6896,8167485. Retrieved 13 January 2012. 
2. ^ Kerr, Joan (2007). "Sydney Leon Miller". Design and Art Australia. http://www.daao.org.au/bio/sydney-leon-miller/version/2/?p=2#artist_biography. Retrieved 13 January 2012. 
3. ^ "Syd Miller". Lambiek Comiclopedia. http://lambiek.net/artists/m/miller_syd.htm. Retrieved 13 January 2012. 
4. ^ McGregor, Richard (16 December 1982). "150 million singlets sold - Chesty Bonds says: that's expansion". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 9. http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19821216&id=kp5WAAAAIBAJ&sjid=O-cDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7098,5029718. Retrieved 13 January 2012. 
5. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} John Ryan (1979). Panel By Panel: an Illustrated History of Australian Comics. Cassell. pp. 18–24. ISBN 0-7269-7376-9. 
6. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Foyle, Lindsay (Autumn 2009). "Testy Chesty Noodled by Bonds Move". Inkspot. Australian Cartoonist's Association. p. 6. http://issuu.com/australiancartoonists/docs/inkspot58?mode=window&backgroundColor=%23222222. Retrieved 10 January 2012. 
7. ^ Kerr, Joan (2007). "Terence John Santry". Design and Art Australia. http://www.daao.org.au/bio/terence-john-santry/version/2/?p=2#artist_biography. Retrieved 13 January 2012. 
8. ^ Pacific Brands Half Year Results - Presentation Briefing Slides 25 Feb 2009, accessed July 11, 2011.
9. ^ Pacific Brands Chairman's Address to Shareholders 20 Oct 2009, accessed July 11, 2011

George Houvardas
Houvardas in August 2011
Born	George Houvardas Sydney, NSW, Australia
Occupation	Actor

George Houvardas is an Australian actor who is best known for his role as Nick "Carbo" Karandonis in the television series Packed to the Rafters.

Biography[link]

Houvardas is the son of Annette (a teacher) and Michael (an accountant) and has two brothers, Steve and Tony Houvardas.^[1][2]

Houvardas is a graduate of Screenwise^[3] drama school and works part-time, along with his brothers, at his family's restaurant in McMahons Point, Sydney.^[4]

Career[link]

Since 2008 he has played Nick "Carbo" Karandonis in Packed to the Rafters. This was his first acting role after his first audition.^[5]

In 2009 Houvardas had a guest role in the second season of East West 101.

Houvardas appeared on Season 10 of the Seven Network reality show Dancing with the Stars in 2010.

Filmography[link]

Television

Radio[link]

In February, 2011, Houvardas filled in on The Kyle & Jackie O Show alongside fellow Packed To The Rafters star Hugh Sheridan^[7].

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• George Houvardas at the Internet Movie Database
• Packed to the Rafters Official Website > Cast :: George Houvardas
• George Houvardas on TV.com
• George Houvardas - zimbio

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Luda Kroitor
Luda Kroitor, September 2009
Occupation	Television personality and dancer
Notable credit(s)	Dancing with the Stars

Luda Kroitor (born 14 June 1982 in Soroca, Moldavian SSR) is the reigning five time world Salsa champion.^[1] She is popularly known for her role as dance instructor on Dancing with the Stars and is currently partnered with singer Johnny Ruffo. She rose to fame after winning Dancing with the Stars series 8, with her partner Luke Jacobz, who is an actor on Home and Away.^[2]

References[link]

See also[link]

• Emanuel School, Australia#Notable alumni