Jason Donovan

Jason Sean Donovan was born in Malvern on 1st June 1968. He is the son of Terry Donovan, one of Australia’s leading actors over the past two decades and Sue McIntosh, an Australian newsreader and television presenter.

Jason made his first television appearance at the age of eleven on the Australian series Skyways. He also featured in I Can Jump Puddles, the Alan Marshall story. In 1982 Jason starred as Sean in the series Golden Pennies, an eight-part children’s adventure series about life on the Victorian goldfields in the 1850s. In 1985 Jason took over the role of Scott Robinson in the drama series Neighbours. Jason won his first ‘Logie’ award for Best new Talent in 1987. In the same year he received a commendation in the category Performance By a Male Actor in a Series from the Television Society of Australia’s Penguin Awards.

In 1988 he was awarded the ‘Silver Logie’ for the Most Popular Actor and signed a recording contract with Mushroom Records. His first single "Nothing Can Divide Us" reached number five in the UK charts and number one in Hong Kong and Japan as well as reaching the Top 40 in Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland and Thailand. In September 1988 Jason began filming the Australian mini-series Heroes playing Happy Houston. Jason’s next record, a duet with Kylie Minogue, "Especially For You", reached number one in the UK Charts in January 1989 and became the biggest selling single in Britain for two years. Jason’s second solo single, "Too Many Broken Hearts" also reached number one in the UK. In March 1989 Jason resigned from Neighbours after a four-year association and recorded his debut album. Also in March, Jason was nominated for three ‘Logies’ awards; Most Popular Personality (Gold Award), Most Popular Actor (Silver Award) and the Most Popular Music Video (Especially For You). During May, Jason headlined The PWL Roadshow throughout England and Scotland. His appearances sparked scenes reminiscent of Beatlemania and Jason cemented his place in pop history.

Jason’s debut album "Ten Good Reasons" entered the charts at number two and within a week had reached the number one album spot remaining there for three weeks. After his 21st Birthday celebrations in Melbourne, Jason rewrote the history books when his single "Sealed with a Kiss" entered the UK charts at number one. Not satisfied with that, "Ten Good Reasons" returned to the number one album spot making Jason the first Australian male to ever hold the number one positions simultaneously. Jason was also the youngest artist to enter the charts at number one. In August 1989 Jason returned to Australia to play Private Talbot in the film Blood Oath, starring Bryan Brown. Jason’s next single "Everyday" was released in August and reached number two in the UK charts. With the release of "Ten Good Reasons – the Video", Jason had the number one Video, the number two Album and the number three Single.

Early in 1990 Jason returned to Australia to play Alex Fargo in the mini-series Shadows of the Heart. In May 1990 Jason began his highly successful South-East Asian, European and UK concert tour and he ended the year by winning the Smash Hits Magazine Award for The Best Male Artist Of The Year. Chart successes of 1990 include "Rhythm of the Rain" and "Doing Fine".