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Sun 3 Sep, 2006 10:49 pm
Tragically killed today.
The Courier Mail wrote:
Quote:THE Crocodile Man, Steve Irwin, is dead.
He was killed in a freak accident in Cairns, police sources said.
It is understood he was killed by a sting-ray barb that went through his chest.
He was swimming off the Low Isles at Port Douglas filming an underwater documentary and that's when it occured.
Ambulance officers confirmed they attended a reef fatality this morning at Batt Reef off Port Douglas.
It is understood Mr Irwin was killed around midday, Eastern Australian time.
It is understood he was killed instantly.
A source said Mr Irwin was already dead when his body was brought onto the Isle.
A source said Mr Irwin's body was being airlifted to Cairns Hospital in North Queensland for formal identification
Shame..... but not really surprising, looking at the many dangerous situations that he put himself into over the years.
Lovely guy, who did far more than his fair share in raising the profile of environmental issues.
I'm sorry to hear this sad news.
A real shame. My thoughts and condolences to his wife and child.
I always thought a crocodile would ultimately do him in. I never, in my wildest dreams, suspected a stingray would be the villain.
It truly is a shame. Next to Jeff Corbin, he was the only guy, daring
enough to bring dangerous animals close to the camera. He'll be missed.
CalamityJane wrote:It truly is a shame. Next to Jeff Corbin, he was the only guy, daring
enough to bring dangerous animals close to the camera. He'll be missed.
Are you forgetting me, Jane?
CalamityJane wrote:Next to Jeff Corbin, he was the only guy, daring
enough to bring dangerous animals close to the camera.
I dunno, those 2 pretty much stole
Harry Butler's act - and Harry got bit, clawed, butted, or charged by something damned near every episode.
We used to have David Bellamy doing much the same thing over here in the UK.....it's just that we don't have many dangerous animals to wrestle with. He'd end up getting nibbled by a ferret or something, but that was about it, I'm afraid.
timberlandko wrote:CalamityJane wrote:Next to Jeff Corbin, he was the only guy, daring
enough to bring dangerous animals close to the camera.
I dunno, those 2 pretty much stole
Harry Butler's act - and Harry got bit, clawed, butted, or charged by something damned near every episode.
A lot of Harry Butler's stuff was set up and planned beforehand. I haven't got time now, but I'll relate a snippet some time later.
Lord Ellpus wrote:We used to have David Bellamy doing much the same thing over here in the UK.....it's just that we don't have many dangerous animals to wrestle with. He'd end up getting nibbled by a ferret or something, but that was about it, I'm afraid.
I LOVED Bellamy!
He was soooooooooooo odd.
Its so sad, he was so passionate about his job, a big loss to the entertainment world.
dlowan wrote:Lord Ellpus wrote:We used to have David Bellamy doing much the same thing over here in the UK.....it's just that we don't have many dangerous animals to wrestle with. He'd end up getting nibbled by a ferret or something, but that was about it, I'm afraid.
I LOVED Bellamy!
He was soooooooooooo odd.
My favourite clip was when he was in some forest and came close to the camera to whisper....."OOH look, there's a wild boar.....and the bugger's after me!"
With that, he leapt off to the nearest tree and climbed to safety, leaving the cameraman on the ground, panicking.
HILARIOUS!
There was a relatively early tv show, probably only in the USA, featuring Colonel John D. Craig. He had written a book of his adventures called Danger is My Business, which came out in 1937, I think. The tv show of the same name ran from 1957-59. I know all this because he and my dad were friends, and when he came to our neck of the woods he'd come over to dinner and tell story after story. He was an early adventurer in underwater photography.
I had to look up David Bellamy. I don't think we've seen him here
in the US - at least not in recent years that I know of.
He seems to be a great character though....
I met Steve Irwin in the course of my work about 10 years ago, before that I thought he was just a dickhead who overacted a lot, an embarrassment to us real Aussies.
After I met him, one-on-one with no cameras around, I realised he was just exactly the same in person, truly a genuine, passionate crusader...and I think Australia is genuinely shocked to realise how much we had actually come to admire and respect him.
Earl, he was very much liked in the US as well, especially by children.
My daughter used to watch him all the time. He was fearless and at
the same time respectful towards the animals.
Back on John D. Craig for a minute - he was an interesting guy. He visited us a few times when I was about nine and ten, so I'm wobbly on the details. On google, I see a swath of links and some of the ones on the first few pages are about him, many not. I don't have the patience to go through more and more pages.
This link will set Craig pre Cousteau, around paragraph three...
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/617/1
Not to take away from Irwin at all. Just to set context.
We had this guy long before Steve:
http://www.albymangels.com.au/
..but this guy was ...well.... "dodgy" is the word we'd use !!
Eorl wrote:I met Steve Irwin in the course of my work about 10 years ago, before that I thought he was just a dickhead who overacted a lot, an embarrassment to us real Aussies.
After I met him, one-on-one with no cameras around, I realised he was just exactly the same in person, truly a genuine, passionate crusader...and I think Australia is genuinely shocked to realise how much we had actually come to admire and respect him.
Interesting.
I thought he just used that persona for the American market for a long time, and thought him utterly daft.
I had begun to think that it WAS him a while back.....
Now you confirm it.
I had come to like him....an I am certainly quite saddened in a way I find surprisingly personal.
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