Actor. He is referred to by many as "the living symbol of the typical Australian". His career spanned four decades and during this time he performed regularly in major Australian feature films as well as British and American productions. Born John William Pilbean Goffage, his father was an English immigrant who worked as a stock agent. Called "Chips" as a young schoolboy, he attended Parramatta Commercial High School in Sydney, Australia before working in a variety of jobs, including opal miner, sheep shearer, drover, pearl diver, and wine cellar manager. In 1938 he made his Australian film debut in "Ants in His Pants". In May 1941 he enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force and entertained troops, and was discharged in February 1945, having reached the rank of flying officer. His onscreen image as a lanky (he was six feet six inches tall), laconic bushman struck a chord with filmgoers and he soon became the most popular actor in Australia, appearing in such films as "Forty Thousand Horsemen" (1940), "The Rats of Tobruk" (1944), "The Overlanders" (1946), and "Eureka Stockade" (1949). His American films appearances include "The Desert Rats" (1953, with Richard Burton), "The Sundowners" (1960, with Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr), "Mutiny on the Bounty" (1962, with Marlon Brando and Trevor Howard) and "Double Trouble" (1967, with Elvis Presley). In 1953 he founded the production company Southern International, for which he wrote and produced films, although none of these reached the same level of popularity as those he appeared in for other companies. These include "The Phantom Stockman" (1953), "King of the Coral Sea" (1953), "Walk into Paradise" (1956), "Dust in the Sun" (1958) and "The Ambitious One" (1959). His Australian and American television credits include "Gunsmoke". "The Stranger", "Skippy the Bush Kangaroo", "Tarzan", "The Monkees", "The Big Valley", and "The Wackiest Ship in the Army". He also participated in cinema advertisements that were part of an Australian Government campaign in 1957 called "Bring out a Briton", in an attempt to increase the number of British migrants settling in Australia. His final film role was "Wake in Fright" (1971), filmed around his home in Broken Hill, Australia and shortly after its completion he died of a heart attack at the age of 62. In the 1971 New Years' Honors, he was made a Member of the Order of British Empire (MBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to the performing arts. In 1974 the Australia Post issued a stamp in his honor that depicted him in recognition of his work in Australian cinema.