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Serious was born in Hunter Valley, New South Wales in Australia. He went to Cardiff Public High School, then worked as a tire fitter to pay his tuition at the National Art School in Sydney. After being expelled, Serious wrote, produced, and directed his first film, a documentary called Coaltown which explored the social and political history of coal mining, when he was 21. The following year, his television series Lifestyle won the Australian Penguin Award for Best Educational Documentary.
In 1988, Serious wrote, produced, and directed Young Einstein, an intentionally inaccurate movie portraying Albert Einstein as a young farmer in Tasmania who discovers rock music. The movie was an international hit, grossing over $26 million, and propelled Serious to stardom.
In 1993, Serious released his next film, Reckless Kelly , a satire about notorious Australian bank robber Ned KellyEdward "Ned" Kelly (approx 1854-5 [DOB uncertain] November 11, 1880) is Australia's most famous bushranger, and, to some, a folk hero for his defiance of colonial authorities. He was known as the Man in the Iron Mask (after the Alexandre Dumas book) due t who also becomes a movie star in Hollywood. While Reckless Kelly was a hit in Australia, it failed outside of the country and ended Serious' bid for mainstream popularity. In 2000, Serious released his third film Mr. Accident , about the most accident-prone man in the world. Like Reckless Kelly, the film was not a commercial success, but has a cult following.
Also in August of 2000, Serious tried to sue the search engine Yahoo!Yahoo is an Internet portal and Web directory. It was founded by Stanford graduate students David Filo and Jerry Yang in January 1994 and incorporated in March 1995. The company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. According to Alexa Internet, a web for trademarkSee also: brand Bass Red Triangle, was the first trademark registered in Britain in 1876. A trademark ( Commonwealth English: trade mark is a distinctive name, phrase, symbol, design, picture, or style used by a business to identify itself and its product infringement. The case was quickly thrown out because Serious could not prove that he sells products or services under the name "Yahoo," and therefore could not prove that he suffered harm or confusion due to the search engine.
Since Serious has failed to match the success of Young Einstein, he has become a symbol of the passing fad of Australian culture in the United States. However, because of his success as an Australian filmmaker, Serious has become an icon in his home country. Serious received an honorary doctorate from the University of NewcastleSee: University of Newcastle (NSW), a university in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia University of Newcastle upon Tyne, a university in England., where he originally failed to get his diploma.
Some news reports have confused Yahoo Serious, whose name was Greg Pead, with the antiques dealer in Sydney named Greg Pead who accused the former Royal butler Paul BurrellPaul Burrell was the butler of Diana, Princess of Wales. He was tried for theft in 2002. The trial collapsed after evidence was given that Queen Elizabeth II had spoken with him regarding the disputed events. The aftermath of the collapse of the trial led of having an affair with him in the 1980sMillennia: 1st millennium 2nd millennium 3rd millennium Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s Years: 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 Events and trends. The two are not related.