Ernie Dingo(birth name Oondamooroo) AM (born 31 July 1956) is an indigenous Australian actor, television presenter and comedian. Originating from the Yamatji tribe in the Maheleny region of Western Australia, he has become a household name and well-known unofficial ambassador of the Aboriginal people throughout Australia.
Born Ernest Ashly Dingo on 31 July 1956, at Bullardoo 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, 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 also appeared in many Australian television series such as The Flying Doctors, Heartbreak High and Rafferty's Rules. He 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 also was fortunate enough to have a top 10 single in the Australian charts in February 2002 with his smash hit "Hey Bloke" which featured back up vocals by Anthony Mundine. His second single, "Spare Dollar" was not as popular, thus cutting short his promising singing career.
Ernie Dingo narrated the Indigenous segment of the 2000 Olympic Games opening ceremony in Sydney, New South Wales. 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). In May 2007 Ernie Dingo appeared as one of the celebrity performers on the celebrity reality singing competition It Takes Two.
Ernie Dingo married Sally Butler, then a sales representative for 2Day FM, in 1989. The couple has a daughter, Wilera, and are also raising a grandson, named Jurra. Dingo has two daughters from former relationships, Jurra's mother, Carllena, and a daughter, Zoe, whom he met for the first time in 2004. Sally Dingo has authored two books about her husband and family, 1997's Ernie Dingo: King of the Kids and Dingo, The Story of our Mob in 2000. They live in the small town of Warrandyte 30 kilometres North East of Melbourne.
Ernie Dingo was created a Member of the Order of Australia in 1990, in recognition of his service to the performing arts.
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.
