Four decades after the iconic television show stopped running in Australia, Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, has made a comeback within the Australian courts.
Actor Tony Bonner, 64, starred in the show and has made a claim with the NSW Supreme Court seeking declarations to prove he has the right to a share of 40 years worth of the show's profits.
Skippy the Bush Kangaroo was created by Fauna Productions Pty Ltd and ran for three seasons between 1968 and 1970. It has entered Australian entertainment folklore and the marsupial is arguably the country's greatest and most enduring showbiz export.
Sydney lawyer Rick Mitry is representing Bonner and told News Limited the claim was worth millions.
"I believe he's entitled to be compensated for his role in the show," said Mr Mitry.
"It's going to be a complex and drawn-out exercise but I would have thought we're talking millions.”
Bonner said he wanted recognition for the work he has contributed to the successful show which debuted in the late 1960s and was televised in more than 128 countries around the world.
"It's not about the money at all, and anybody who knows me will testify to that," said Bonner.
"If they'd just said 'thank you' to me 30 years ago, 20 years ago… then that would've been the end of it.
"They've never even bought me a cup of coffee.
“For years people have thought I was earning a lot of money from the show, but I haven't received a single cent since my last pay cheque from Fauna (about $200) in 1968.
"When I signed on for the first season of Skippy I was a young, and probably naive, actor, and I was given a verbal agreement that if the show was successful after the first season then we'd talk about a few more bikkies in the bikkie tin.”
There will be a hearing in September.
