At Mamamia, we want to acknowledge and celebrate the Australian men who are doing good things and trying to make our country a better place. So we came to you with a list of 100 great Aussie men and asked you to decide Mamamia’s 50 Best Blokes. This week, we’ll be counting down the top ten and announcing who you chose as Mamamia’s Best Bloke on Friday. And coming in at number three is Aussie legend Samuel Johnson.
When actor Samuel Johnson announced his retirement earlier this year to focus his efforts entirely on charity work, his sister Connie publicly rebuked him for failing to consult her first.
Sounds harsh? Not if you consider the incredibly close bond between the siblings.
Best known for his roles in the Logie Award winning TV drama, The Secret Life of Us, and the mini series Molly, Johnson became firmly wedged in Australian's hearts when he embarked on a world record ride on a unicyle to raise money for cancer research and to show support for his sister who was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer when she was 33.
In the end he set the Guinness World Record for unicycling, with a year-long effort in 2013 that covered 16,000kms.
The 28-year-old and his Canberra based sister Connie have raised more than $2.3 million for cancer research through their charity organisation Love Your Sister,
"I got to meet people from all works of life and see about every inch of this beautiful country," told Canberra Times of his cross country adventure.
"It’s not a great way to get around. I’ve converted back to a two-wheeler," he added. "The reason unicycles aren’t in common use is they make no sense – they’re implausible contraptions."
#family A photo posted by Samuel Johnson (@samueljjohnson78) on
Love Your Sister aims to raise breast cancer awareness and encourage early detection of the disease. The foundation is named as an honour of co-founder, Connie. Their mission is to remind Australian women to be 'breast aware', to promote early detection and improve survival rates.
Got me a medal. Good on all youse others what got one too. xsam A photo posted by Samuel Johnson (@samueljjohnson78) on
In February last year Mamamia writer Lucy Gransbury - also an actor - wrote heartfelt post of thanks to Johnson. She said what so many of us feel. And the post was shared more than 5000 times.
"Samuel Johnson, thank you for being an outstanding example to all Australians.
Thank you for humorously telling women to feel themselves up, to save them from dying of breast cancer (and your excellent sister Connie, for every incredible thing she has done for cancer research as well. Legendary).
Thank you for raising more than $2 million (and counting) for me, and my mum, and my sister, and my aunties, and my friends, and anyone who has the potential (women and men) to suffer from breast cancer.
Thank you for speaking honestly about mental health.
Thank you for inspiring me as an actor, and being honest about the acting industry in Australia (where you can be equal parts respected and broke).
Thank you for having the greatest Facebook charity page of all of them – funny, warm and beautiful.
The Johnsons published a book together in late 2014, sharing their personal experience and philanthropic story, titled, "Love Your Sister: How far would you go for someone you love ... on a unicycle?"
So you can see that when Johnson announced he was not returning to acting until his charity raised a further $10 million for breast cancer research and support, Connie felt she could weigh in.
She wrote in a facebook post: "You and your tanties, you should've grown out of them by now silly. All power to you but don't go cutting off your nose to spite your face dear brother."
To which he replied, "Gotta pay that Con, as hard as it is to admit! As you know, my emotions override my brain sometimes, but I promise I will tone down the potty. I'm not acting until we hit 10M though. Gotta stand by that one. Go to bed, it's late. xsambo".
In 2016 Johnson was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to cancer research support organisations, and to the performing arts.
Most recently, he added LGBT rights to his list of public concerns. In order to celebrate Love Your Sister's dedicated following of 350,000 Facebook fans, Johnson decided to get personal.
"So, to celebrate our village numbers swelling to an astonishing 350,000, I'd like to say fuck it, and lift the curtain further on the Johnson clan because life's too bloody short," he shared.
His post, shown above, went on to share the family's history, including the fact that both of his parents identified as bisexual.
Johnson closed the statement, saying, "Needless to say, Love Your Sister proudly supports gender equality and free love for all. Hurry up government people, we were on to this shit decades ago."
