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Jason Donovan

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Jason Donovan

Jason Sean Donovan (born 1 June 1968, Malvern, Melbourne) is an Australian actor and singer. In the UK, he has sold in excess of 3 million records, where his debut album Ten Good Reasons was the highest selling album of 1989 with sales of over 1.5 million copies. He has also had four UK no.1 singles, one of which was "Especially for You", his 1988 duet with Kylie Minogue. In more recent years, he has has returned to acting on television and in stage musicals.

His father is Terence Donovan, also a well-known Australian actor who also appeared in Neighbours as Doug Willis, and his mother is Sue McIntosh. His half-sister is former Neighbours star Stephanie McIntosh. Donovan attended De La Salle College, Malvern. His partner since 1997 and the mother of his children is Angela Malloch, former stage manager. He has two children, a daughter, Jemma (born March 28, 2000) and a son, Zach (born 23 March, 2001).

Neighbours and pop career

He made his first television appearance at the age of eleven on the Australian series Skyways,[1] playing a guest role. In the episode his onscreen sister was played by later co-star Kylie Minogue. He also featured in I Can Jump Puddles before reaching fame in Neighbours as the second incarnation (after Darius Perkins) of the character Scott Robinson. His character's most notable story arc was as part of the Scott and Charlene couple.

In 1987 he won his first Logie Award for "Best new Talent" in 1987 and received a commendation in the category "Performance by a Male Actor In a Series" from the Television Society of Australia’s Penguin Awards. In 1988 he was awarded the ‘Silver Logie’ for the "Most Popular Actor."[1]

After leaving Neighbours in 1988, Donovan signed a recording contract with Mushroom Records. His first single "Nothing Can Divide Us" written and produced by Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman known as Stock Aitken Waterman reached number five in the UK, number one in Hong Kong and Japan, and the top 40 in several other countries.[1]

In 1988 he joined Neighbours co-star Kylie Minogue in signing for Stock, Aitken and Waterman's record label PWL. His second single, "Too Many Broken Hearts," reached number one in the UK. He released his debut album, Ten Good Reasons, in May 1989, which entered the charts at number two and within a week had reached the number one album spot remaining there for three weeks. His cover of Brian Hyland's "Sealed With a Kiss" entered the UK charts at number one, making Jason the first Australian male to ever hold both single and album chart number one positions simultaneously. He was also the youngest artist to enter the charts at number one.[1]

His duet of the song "Especially for You", with Minogue, was the fourth-highest selling single in the United Kingdom that year, and 17th in Australia for 1989. Donovan and Minogue dated for a time, during this period. Between 1988 and 1993 alone, he enjoyed no fewer than 16 hit singles in the UK. His third and final solo album, All Around The World, was never released in his home country of Australia. He spent a long run playing the character of Joseph in the West End musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and had a third solo UK #1 single with one of its tracks, "Any Dream Will Do".

In 1988, Donovan appeared as Happy Houston in the WWII drama The Heroes, based on the historical novel by Ronald McKie, for which he won the 1990 Logie Award for Most Popular Actor in a Mini-Series.

Donovan appeared in his first feature film in 1990, Blood Oath (a.k.a. Prisoners of the Sun).

Post pop

Jason Donovan at a 2007 book signing in Waterstones Bournemouth.

In 1992, Donovan launched a successful libel action against The Face magazine who published allegations that he was gay. Donovan won £200,000 in damages [2], but the action of his lawsuit made him appear homophobic to some sections of the media and had the effect of alienating much of his audience. Donovan tried to make amends and claimed that he did not sue the magazine out of greed nor homophobia, but because he had been accused of lying to his fans. He also came to an agreement with the publishers of the magazine, which would have closed down should they have paid him the full amount he was awarded (though this amount could well have been reduced upon appeal anyway). Regardless, Donovan's career never recovered from his act of litigation. In a 2007 interview in the magazine "Marie Claire", Donovan admitted that suing The Face magazine was a misguided mistake that hurt his career.

In 1996, Donovan starred in the natively produced Australian film called "The Last Bullet"[3] with Koji Tamaki, directed by Michael Pattison which was set in World War II on the pacific island of Borneo in the last days of 1945. The film was much under looked, and Donovan was criticised for the unusually serious role. However it was considered one of his best films to date.

His career later suffered from drug problems. In 1999, he admitted that he still used cocaine, saying 'I still have a joint and I still take coke, but not as much as I did two years ago.'[4]

Donovan suffers from the skin condition psoriasis.[5] According to recent media profiles, his two young children and a steady relationship with their mother have tamed him substantially. He has begun to get more steady work as a serious actor, notably in a role in the high-brow medical-legal drama MDA (2003), on Australia's ABC network.

In late 2004, he was headlining in the stage musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Palladium in England. He finished his original run on 13 March 2005, but was then invited back from June onwards to play in the final two months of the show, until its closure on 4 September 2005. Following this, he has toured the UK performing a few gigs and will return to the stage in 2006 to star in a UK tour of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, from January. After this, he has confirmed he will return to Melbourne to star in David Eldrige's Australian transfer of the London drama Festen, before continuing with his intention to make a comeback as a folk rock singer. Since 2003 Donovan has lent his voice to the Buzz! series of quiz video games.

Recently he has started performing his old hits at various concerts. He performed a medley of songs from Joseph along with other actors who have played the eponymous role (Donny Osmond and Lee Mead) at the Concert for Diana in July 2007.[6]

In 2008, Donovan appeared in ITV's post-watershed soap Echo Beach as Daniel Marrack. He also presents Sunday Night with Jason Donovan, a programme on The One Network of UK local radio stations.

2005 Virgin Mobile viral marketing

In 2005, Donovan's mobile phone number was circulated around the web in Australia, due to an image that was taken in Sydney. It appeared that Donovan was trying to sell his car, and unwittingly released his mobile phone number to the public. As of 10 September, his answering machine had a special message on it, because he was frustrated by the number of calls he was receiving for no particular reason. Virgin has since placed (see [1]) advertisements in several high-profile Australian newspapers, urging people not to call Mr. Donovan, one of their customers. Virgin Mobile has since admitted the photos were all part of a marketing ploy. Virgin also ran TV advertisements showing Mr. Donovan answering prank calls, asking the viewer not to call him, then displaying his number.

I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (2006)

Donovan took part in I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in 2006 and finished in 3rd place. During his time in the jungle, he was known as 'Jungle J' and was seen as somewhat of a support figure. Whilst in the jungle, he became good friends with David Gest and Matt Willis. Donovan also took part in many Bushtucker Trials, which included wearing a helmet full of insects and playing a giant game of Operation. Donovan lost out on the King of the Jungle Crown to Matt Willis. However he recently told "The Steve Wright Show" on BBC Radio 2 (Jan 2008) that his appearance on I'M A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here revitalised his career.

Record releases

Singles

Albums

Other albums and compilations

  • 1989 The Other Side Of Jason Donovan (Japanese release)
  • 1991 Greatest Hits - #9 UK
  • 1991 Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (musical soundtrack, with the 1991 London Revival Cast) - #1 UK
  • 1998 The New Rocky Horror Show
  • 2000 The Very Best Of Jason Donovan
  • 2006 The Greatest Hits - #80 UK

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Jason Donovan". Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. Really Useful Group. Retrieved 2007-07-29.
  2. ^ "Jason Donovan: Is the actor turned pop star still "Neighbours" with Kylie?". thebubbleburst.co.uk. Retrieved 2007-07-30. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  3. ^ The Last Bullet (1995) (TV)
  4. ^ "Donovan admits drugs habit". BBC News. February 18, 1999. Retrieved 2007-07-29.
  5. ^ Drug Store - lookpharm.com
  6. ^ "Andrew Lloyd Webber medley, featuring:". concertfordiana.com. Retrieved 2007-07-29.
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