BEHIND THE SCENES
Australia’s answer to Mr. T
takes off in anew NBC show
By Frank Lovece
Jacko is a bit of a joke,
which, one supposes, is the
whole idea. So is his first TV
show, NBC’s “The Highway-
man” — an opus about two
feds roaming the Southwest
in a futuristic tractor-trai-
lor. The series, co-starring
Sam Jones and Jane Badler,
airs Fridays.
“Sam is the smooth opera-
tor of the whole scene,” says
Jacko. “I just come in there
and jump everything up,
cracking jokes when things
are looking real - serious.
They’ve actually written
the script around me so that
I don’t have to be confront-
ed with any high-intensity
acting. They really made it
as comprehensible as possi-
ble for me at this present
stage. But they said it's
gonna get harder as it goes
on.”
So, he’s an Australian Mr.
T. Jacko doesn't care. “Aw,
it doesn’t worry me, mate. I
met him about a month-and-
a-half ago on the set of his
(syndicated) TV-series ‘T &
T.’” Jacko - born Mark
Jackson — was up for a guest
role on the show. “They
wanted me to do (it),” he
says, “but we had to pull the
pin on it because ‘The High-
wayman’ came up.”
Ah, the wages of fame.
Not that Jacko’s not used to
it. As the clown prince of
Australian Rules Football —
where 18 guys per side try
to kick or dribble a ball and
each other across goal lines
- Jacko was a crowd-pleas-
er. He wasn’t the fastest or
the biggest. But he was, he
says, “lovable. I was sort of
like Bob Uecker. I was a real
character.”
Jacko parlayed his antics
to a spot on Australian TV
commercials for Energizer
batteries. Union Carbide,
the parent company, found
him successful enough to
bring him stateside. Since
then, he has become the
most popular Aussie import
since “Crocodile Dundee.”
Though he has released a
couple of novelty records in
Australia, he’s no singer.
Though he has had four pro-
fessional heavyweight
bouts in his homeland, he’s
no boxer. And now? ‘Don’t
get me wrong, mate, I’m no
actor! I’m just a good tryer!
I'll have a go at a lot of
things, right through me ca-
reer. I’m an apprentice now
under (series creator) Glen
Larson and Sam Jones. I’m
just trottin’ along, doin’ me
bit, y’know? Help ‘em out,”
he grins, “‘when I can.”
Release the week of March 13-19, 1988