Biography
Paul Jonathan Blake was born in the Sydney suburb of Hornsby in 1958, an only child of parents who were classical musicians. Blake's family moved back and forth between New Zealand and Australia before permanently settling in Sydney when Blake was ten.
In his youth, Blake trained as a professional boxer and studied music at the Sydney Conservatorium. He also spent several years in student and experimental theatre groups and took private acting lessons while working as an usher at a city cinema complex.
While attending Glenaeon, an independent K-12 school at Middle Cove, Sydney, Paul Gleeson (as he was known to his classmates at the time) starred in many school productions. In 1976 an acquaintance of his History teacher who was also a TV producer was considering various actors to star in a new TV soap called The Restless Years. This would be Blake's first screen role was on television (in which he was credited as Sonny Blake). During his time on the show, Blake continued to take acting lessons and would eventually study at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York City.
After leaving The Restless Years, Blake again worked in television and theatre (including a role in the revival of On Our Selection) and quickly progressed to miniseries and films. One of his highest-profile parts was a starring role in the Australian television miniseries Anzacs. His good looks led to him being named by Cleo magazine as one of their most eligible bachelors of 1986.
Blake's charismatic presence and fast-rising star led to him being dubbed "the next Mel Gibson", with mentions of several work opportunities in the United States and talk of a new Mad Max film. On 1 December 1986, Blake was badly injured in a car accident while driving home after the last day of filming The Lighthorsemen in the South Australian desert. An oncoming car appeared in his path and he swerved to avoid it, crashing into a car which was parked on the side of the road. Blake was not expected to survive the accident. His only external injuries were a slight graze on his cheekbone and a cut to his temple, but he sustained permanent brain damage in the accident and was left paralysed and unable to speak.
Read more about this topic: Jon Blake (actor)
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