Better Angels - Samuel Johnson
On Monday Australian Story profiles actor and charity advocate Sam Johnson.
Actor Samuel Johnson just celebrated a milestone he never dreamed he'd reach. Love Your Sister, the charity he founded with his late sister Connie, has raised $20 million for cancer research.
It's one of many remarkable feats Samuel has pulled off in his rollercoaster life.
The actor-turned-advocate broke the world unicycling record when he rode 16,000km around Australia, won a Gold Logie playing music legend Molly Meldrum and, more recently, survived a near-fatal road accident.
Samuel shot to fame at 21 when he starred in the hit TV series The Secret Life of Us but his 20s and 30s were a turbulent time. He lost loved ones to illness and suicide and battled mental illness and addiction.
"It seems like life deals up a lot of things to Sam and he somehow triumphs over them", says Lucy Freeman, the managing director of Love Your Sister.
Samuel has found new purpose in his fundraising work, which focuses on helping cancer patients in regional Australia.
"I used to be a big problem for myself," Samuel tells Australian Story. "Now I've tapped into something that has helped me get away from the things I hated about myself."
Australian Story goes on the road with Samuel as he travels to halls, clubs and campsites from Queensland to Queanbeyan, raising money and speaking candidly about grief, love and self-acceptance.
Trailer
Recently Updated Shows
McDonald & Dodds
McDonald & Dodds is set in Bath and follows the wildly ambitious DCI McDonald, who is partnered with the shy, modest DS Dodds. While McDonald has transferred from the mean streets of South London to leap up the career ladder, Dodds has happily languished on the shelf for most of his working life.
McDonald is a tough, driven, battering ram of a cop who cracks cases through sheer force of will; Dodds – the tortoise to her hare – is quiet, unassuming and enigmatic. But thrust back into frontline action for the first time in a decade, he discovers a hidden talent for deciphering puzzles. Two contemporary Britons, seemingly with nothing in common, thrown together, boss McDonald and loyal sidekick Dodds forge a rumbustious, entertaining and ultimately – give or take a few setbacks – effective partnership.
The Bachelor
The Bachelor is an American dating and relationship reality television series, revolving around a single former bachelor, who starts with a pool of candidates from whom the bachelor is expected to select a wife through an elimination process.
Love Island
U.S. version of the British show Love Island where a group of singles come to stay in a villa for a few weeks and have to couple up with one another – those who fail to find a partner to couple up with risk being dumped from the island. Islanders are on the lookout for romance, but the road to love doesn't always run smoothly. Challenges abound with new Islander arrivals and dramatic twists as friendships and relationships form. In addition to choosing their partners wisely, Islanders must also win the hearts of viewers who have the opportunity to shape events on screen and ultimately crown one lucky couple the winner, who will then have the chance to walk away with both love and the cash prize.
The Proof Is Out There
The Proof Is Out There takes an in-depth look at some of the most incredible and thought provoking videos of unexplained phenomena and mysterious must-see moments of all time. Each half-hour episode explores and analyzes the full story of each irregularity in question from bizarre footage of people seemingly immune to lightning, to a fifty-foot snake, apocalyptic sounds in a man's backyard, enigmatic creatures, and UFOS that split and dive underwater. Through expert examination and the use of the latest technologies, The Proof Is Out There aims to get to the bottom of what's real? What's fake? And everything in between.
