THE HAT SQUAD: STEVE IRWIN, CROCODILE HUNTER

From the website for "The Crocodile Hunter":

At 11am today, the 4th September 2006, Steve Irwin was fatally wounded by a stingray barb to his heart whilst filming a sequence on Batt Reef off Port Douglas for his daughter’s new TV series.

Emergency services were called from Cairns Rescue Base and met Croc One, Steve’s rescue vessel at Low Isle on the Great Barrier Reef.

The Croc One crew performed constant CPR during the thirty minute dash to Low Isle, but the medical staff pronounced Steve dead at approx. 12 noon. His producer and closest friend, John Stainton said on Croc One today,

“The world has lost a great wildlife icon, a passionate conservationist and one of the proudest Dads on the planet. He died doing what he loves best and left this world in a happy and peaceful state of mind. Crocs Rule!”

Aside from the fact that he was known as the Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin will forever be known for the way he died, and for a stupid stunt in which he carried his baby son too close to hungry crocodiles while feeding them chunks of meat.

I didn't know much about the man beyond the basics, having never seen him in action. I've heard the impersonation of him in an Accuweather.com radio commercial more often than I've ever seen Irwin. So I went to TV Acres (link to the left), the best site for information about everything in the TV Universe, to learn more:

Risk-taking Australian wildlife expert seen on the syndicated nature series CROCODILE HUNTER (1996), THE TEN DEADLIEST SNAKES IN THE WORLD (1998) and CROC FILES a.k.a. "The Crocodile Hunter's Croc Files" (1999).

Born February 22nd, 1962 in Victoria's Dandenong Ranges, Queensland, Australia, Steve Irwin spends his life rescuing and relocating endangered animals. He loves to jump on top of them and wrestle them into submission with the aide of ropes and a good grip.

Steve got his inspiration for working with animals as a child at the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park at Beerwah on the Sunshine Coast (once owned by his parents Lyn Irwin, a nurse and wildlife rehabilitator and Bob Irwin, a plumber turned herpetologist). Steve later expanded his parent's property and renamed it The Australia Zoo which has become a thriving international tourist attraction and "the home of the Crocodile Hunter."

A herpetologist by trade, Steve likes to wear khaki shorts and boots. When he comes upon snakes or crocodiles, Steve stands frozen into his famous "action crouch" and shouts the catchphrase "Crikey!"

The success of Steve and his wife, Terri (Steve's co-host on the "Crocodile Hunter" TV show) spawned a line of action figures, a Steve Irwin doll that cries, "Danger! Danger! Danger!".

In 2002 Steve and his wife, Terri starred in the theatrical release The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course. Steve Irwin has also appeared in Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001) and its sequel, as well as in wildlife documentaries for cable's Animal Planet, in a Federal Express commercial and as a parody of himself named Irwin on the cartoon series SOUTH PARK (episode No. 31. Prehistoric Ice Man) who says things like, "I'm going to sneak up on that croc and jam my thumb in its butthole!".

Reportedly, everything, that Steve Irwin earns is reinvested into conservation causes.

BCnU.....
Tele-Toby