Mark Ronald Holden was born on 27 April 1954 and is an Australian singer, actor, TV personality, record producer, songwriter, and barrister.
50 Facts About Mark Holden
1.
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Mark Holden was one of three original judges on the television series Australian Idol and the first season of The X Factor.
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Mark Ronald Holden was born on 27 April 1954 to Helen and Ron Holden at Calvary Hospital, North Adelaide.
4.
Mark Holden's father's family were involved with the Holden and Sloggetts Travelling Circus; although Ron became an architect and Helen was a teacher.
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Mark Holden attended Westminster School in Adelaide and formed a school band.
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Mark Holden began writing songs and took classical vocal lessons with Lewis Dawe.
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In 1972, Mark Holden was encouraged by a neighbour to audition for Adelaide Tonight, a local television show hosted by Ernie Sigley.
8.
Mark Holden attended an open audition along Tynte Street, North Adelaide, singing an original song and "I'll Walk with God", where he was successful and performed on the show a number of times.
9.
In 1974, Mark Holden entered Showcase '74, a television talent show on Network 9 where he sang original folky songs.
10.
John Bromwell from Essex Music encouraged Mark Holden to relocate to Sydney and arranged a meeting with Peter Dawkins a record producer with EMI Music who signed Mark Holden.
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From 1975 to 1976, Mark Holden performed as Joseph in the first Australian production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Seymour Centre, Sydney.
12.
Mark Holden was the first pop star in the world to play the lead role.
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Mark Holden issued his second studio album, Let Me Love You.
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In 1977, Mark Holden released "Hey, My Love" in February which peaked at number 32, and "Reach Out for the One Who Loves You" in August, which peaked at number 17.
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In 1976, Mark Holden played the role of Greg Mason on the TV soap opera The Young Doctors.
16.
At the Logie Awards of 1977, Mark Holden won Most Popular Australian TV Teenage Personality and the George Wallace Memorial Logie for Best New Talent.
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Mark Holden won Most Popular Australian TV Teenage Personality in 1978.
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In 1979, Mark Holden relocated to Los Angeles and signed with American label Scotti Brothers Records.
19.
Mark Holden recorded "Scintillating Lady" which he co-wrote with Roger Atkins, and was due to launch his American career with a performance of the song live on CBS; however, just before the performance, his wisdom teeth needed removing and he sang the song though pain and a swollen mouth.
20.
The album did not chart and Mark Holden began to focus on writing and producing.
21.
Mark Holden developed and produced artists including model and actress Milla Jovovich, for EMI Records Group, New York.
22.
For three years between 1992 and 1995, Holden worked with David Hasselhoff, producing and coordinating his albums, live promotion and musical projects for television, particularly in Europe where David enjoyed multi-platinum successes including the Top Ten hit in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, 'Wir Zwei Allein Heut Nacht' which Mark wrote with David Hasselhoff.
23.
In 1996, Mark Holden recommenced his law degree and by 1997 was keen to get back into the music business.
24.
Mark Holden teamed with Jack Strom who he knew from the early 1970s and was the producer of Red Faces on Hey Hey It's Saturday.
25.
Strom and Mark Holden formed MarJac Productions and wrote songs and helped launch careers of Delta Goodrem, Nikki Webster and Sophie Monk.
26.
In 1999, Mark Holden performed his show "100 Years of Australian Music" at the School of Arts Cafe in Queanbeyan and hosted the Silver Jubilee edition of Countdown.
27.
In 2003, Mark Holden was a judge on the inaugural season Australian Idol, where he remained for five seasons until 2007.
28.
Mark Holden executive-produced the "Final 12" cast CD for Australian Idol which went double platinum and included the song "Rise Up" which he co-wrote with Vanessa Amorosi and peaked at number 1 on the ARIA Charts.
29.
In 2004 Mark Holden signed and managed Joel Turner, a beat-boxer from Idol.
30.
In 2004, Mark Holden recorded a live DVD titled Live at the George Ballroom.
31.
In 2005, Mark Holden appeared as a judge on the first season of The X Factor, along with John Reid and Kate Ceberano.
32.
On 14 June 2005 Mark Holden was one of the guest hosts that stood in for Bert Newton on morning program Good Morning Australia.
33.
In 2007, Mark Holden featured in The Starter Wife and Pizza.
34.
Mark Holden hosted the short lived show in 2007, The Dicko, Holden and Chrissie Show on Nova FM.
35.
In 2010, Mark Holden had a cancer removed from his neck, affecting his vocal cords.
36.
Mark Holden is one of the regular fill-ins for Richard Stubbs on 774 ABC Melbourne.
37.
From 2012 to 2014 Mark Holden began researching and placing together information from his great-uncle Aldophus Mark Holden's travelling circus from the 1890s.
38.
Mark Holden made five 24-minute short films about the circus, including footage from the 1950s and 60s.
39.
Mark Holden recorded a soundtrack with his family, including his daughter Katie singing and his son Cain co-writing "Rambling Man".
40.
The Mark Holden Brothers Travelling Circus documentary and soundtrack were released on iTunes in September 2014.
41.
On 28 August 2014, it was announced Mark Holden would be a participant on the 14th season of Dancing with the Stars commencing in September.
42.
In week one of Dancing with the Stars, Mark Holden did a dance tributing "The Carnation Kid" from 40 years ago.
43.
Mark Holden was receiving positive feedback from judges and audience despite his lack of dancing ability.
44.
In week three, Mark Holden dressed up and danced as Bobo the Clown.
45.
Mark Holden received 4 out of 40 and was voted out of the show.
46.
In May 2017, Mark Holden released his autobiography, titled, My Idol Years.
47.
Mark Holden graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Adelaide in 2001, which he completed externally at Monash University.
48.
Mark Holden was close to completing the degree in 1974 when his music career took off.
49.
Mark Holden has suffered several bone fractures as a direct result of osteoporosis, and featured on an awareness ad on Channel 7.
50.
Mark Holden is a long-time supporter of the Adelaide Football Club, and was made an ambassador of the club in 2006.