Like Father, Like Daughter

Alongside her famous father, the daughter of Skippy star Tony Bonner tells of growing up in the spotlight

- Clare Rigden

Tony Bonner was just 24 when he became the hunky helicopter pilot Jerry King in the Aussie TV classic Skippy The Bush Kangaroo. In just a few years he’d gone from relative newcomer to household name.

Around that time he fell in love with Aussie model Nola Clark – a star in her own right – and the pair, who were married for 20 years, went on to have three daughters in five years.

DOMESTIC BLISS?

Theirs was a relationship made in tabloid heaven – two young stars and their happy brood. But away from the cameras, life wasn’t the picture of domesticity they portrayed.

“Dad was very famous when I was born,” says Chelsea, 46. “The thing I remembered most when I was growing up was that everyone was obsessed with Dad in Cop Shop – that was huge. And then Skyways. When I was in primary school they were the shows everyone was watching.

“When you’re little, you don’t really think about what other people do – we just knew we got to go along to lots of sets with Dad. I started getting picked on at school, and that’s when I realised maybe not everyone’s dad is on the telly.”