John Jarratt
Jarratt at the Sydney premiere of Man of Steel, 24 June 2013
Born (1951-08-05) 5 August 1951[1]
Wongawilli, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Occupations
  • Actor
  • Film producer
  • Film director
  • TV presenter
Years active1975–present

John Jarratt (born 5 August 1951[1]) is an Australian television film actor, producer and director and TV presenter who rose to fame through his work in the Australian New Wave. He has appeared in a number of film roles including Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), Summer City (1977), The Odd Angry Shot (1979), We of the Never Never (1982), Next of Kin (1982), and Dark Age (1987). He portrayed the antagonist Mick Taylor in the Wolf Creek franchise. He voiced the protagonist's father, Jack Hunter, in an audio drama adaptation of The Phoenix Files. He is also known for his recurring role in the drama series McLeod's Daughters.

Early life

Jarratt was born in what was then a small coal-mining village, now the Wollongong suburb of Wongawilli, New South Wales, where he would grow up, before the family later moved to the Snowy Mountains area.[2] His father was a coal miner, and later a concreter working on the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme. Jarratt comes from a family of Irish Catholic descent; however, his patrilineal ancestor George Jarratt, born 1833, came from Croxton in Cambridgeshire, England. George's son John married Mary Kelly from Ireland. On the genealogy show Who Do You Think You Are?, Jarratt confirmed that his great-great-grandfather was Chinese.[3]

While in high school, Jarratt directed and acted in a school play which was a great success and led to his school principal recommending that he pursue an acting career. As a young boy, he enjoyed recreational activities such as knitting and sewing. His favourite thing to make was scarves for his school peers.[2]

Career

Early work

Jarratt graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in 1973. His screen debut was in The Great Macarthy (1975). He also appeared in Peter Weir's Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) and Summer City (1977) with Mel Gibson. Jarratt had the lead role in the 1979 mini series The Last Outlaw playing Ned Kelly. He played a major supporting role as a young Australian soldier in Vietnam War movie The Odd Angry Shot (1980) and We of the Never Never (1982). In the late 1980s, Jarratt recognised he had a problem with binge-drinking and related violence. He joined Alcoholics Anonymous, an organisation in which he continues to be active.[2]

Television

In the 1990s, Jarratt was a presenter on the lifestyle show Better Homes and Gardens with then-wife Noni Hazlehurst. He had guest roles in Inspector Morse, Police Rescue, Blue Murder, Water Rats and Blue Heelers in the 1990s and 2000s. He joined the cast of McLeod's Daughters in 2001, and left the show in 2006. In 2010, Jarratt appeared in a commercial for Husqvarna, where he proved the tools' efficiency by playing his character in Wolf Creek.

In May 2013, Jarratt filmed a guest star role in the third instalment of the ABC telemovie series, Jack Irish: Dead Point.[4]

In 2016 and 17, Jarratt was working on the Wolf Creek TV series, reprising his role of Mick Taylor from the 2 movies.[5]

Return to cinema

In 2005, Jarratt had a major role in the Australian film Wolf Creek, playing the villain Mick Taylor.[6] In 2007, he appeared in two films, Rogue and The Final Winter. Jarratt also had a small role in the 2008 film, Australia, as a soldier.

In 2008, Jarratt launched his own film production company, Winnah Films. Winnah's first feature film, Savages Crossing (originally carrying the working title Flood) went into principal photography outside Ipswich, Queensland in February. In 2009, he appears as the father of a teenage girl via phone in Telstra's "Next G" commercials.[7]

In 2010, Jarratt starred in the ensemble exploitation extravaganza, Bad Behaviour, written and directed by Joseph Sims.[8] In the same year, Jarratt also had a role in the supernatural horror movie Needle.

He made a cameo in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained in 2012, appearing as an employee of the Le Quint Dickie Mining Company alongside Tarantino himself, both appearing with Australian accents.

In February 2013, Jarratt reprised his role as Mick Taylor, filming the Wolf Creek sequel, Wolf Creek 2, with Matt Hearn producing and Greg McLean directing. The film was released on 20 February 2014[9]

In January 2014, Jarratt starred in, and co-directed romantic comedy thriller StalkHer, the film met with mixed reviews.[10]

As of 2022, Jarratt is working on Wolf Creek 3, again playing the psychopathic Mick Taylor.

Other work

Jarratt returned to audio drama work, after working for the ABC in the 1970s to co-star in Benjamin Maio Mackay's adaptation of The Phoenix Files in 2017. The first two instalments were released across 2017 and 2018, but as of August 26 Jarratt is no longer listed as being involved with the project.[11]

Personal life

Jarratt has been married four times. First to Rosa Miano, then to actress Noni Hazlehurst, then Jody Jarratt, and again to Rosa Miano.[12] His children with his second wife, Noni, are all named after characters Jarratt has portrayed in his films. In his spare time, he enjoys collecting bones on his farm in Wollongong.[13]

On 1 October 2015, Jarratt released his autobiography, The Bastard from the Bush.[14]

In August 2007, Jarratt filed a lawsuit against the Seven Network over a story which ran on the current affairs show Today Tonight. He claimed the story defamed him. The story told of Jarratt in a dispute with his tenant and how he had made attempts to intimidate and evict the tenant.[15] The story accused Jarratt of echoing his character Mick Taylor from the film Wolf Creek in his intimidation, described an answering machine message left by him to his tenant saying "I have always been a winner—a winner". A lawyer for Seven told the court that the story had not portrayed Jarratt as a "psychopathic killer". The case was adjourned until 12 October 2007.[16]

On 25 August 2018, Jarratt was charged with rape after a woman came forward to report an alleged incident in 1976.[17] Jarratt pleaded not guilty. After a five-day trial, he was found not guilty on 5 July 2019.[18] After his acquittal, Jarratt launched a lawsuit against The Daily Telegraph over their reporting of his case. He dropped the case after a month, but then restarted it after the Telegraph posted an article saying that he "got away with rape". The suit was settled out of court on 22 December 2019, with the Telegraph posting an apology on its website.[19]

Filmography

Film

Year Film Role Notes
1975 The Great Macarthy Macarthy Feature film
Picnic at Hanging Rock Albert Crundall Feature film
1977 Summer City Sandy Feature film
The Sound of Love David TV film
1978 Blue Fin Sam Snell Feature film
Little Boy Lost Vic Tanner Feature film
1979 The Odd Angry Shot Bill Feature film
1982 We of the Never Never Dandy Feature film
Next of Kin Barney Feature film
Fluteman Fluteman Feature film
1984 The Settlement Tommy Martin Feature film
Chase Through the Night Clurry TV movie
1985 The Naked Country Mick Conrad Feature film
1986 Australian Dream Todd Feature film
1987 Dark Age Steve Harris Feature film
1988 Top Enders Jack TV movie
1993 Joh's Jury TV movie
1996 Dead Heart Feature film
2005 Wolf Creek Mick Taylor Feature film
2007 Rogue Russell Feature film
The Final Winter Colgate Feature film
2008 Australia Sergeant Feature film
Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! Himself Documentary
2010 Needle Paul the Coroner Feature film
Bad Behaviour Ricky Feature film
2011 Savages Crossing Phil Feature film
2012 Django Unchained Le-Quint Dickey Mining Company Employee Feature film
Shiver Franklin Rood Feature film
2013 Wolf Creek 2 Mick Taylor Feature film
100 Bloody Acres Burke Feature film
2014 Jack Irish: Dead Point Sen. Sgt Laurie Olsen TV movie
2015 Frenzy Benjiman Lightbriger Feature film
StalkHer Jack Feature film
Also co-director.[10]
Produced by OZPIX (Jarratt is a part-owner).[20]
2018 Boar Ken Feature film
2022 The Wild One James Morrill Release due July/August[21]
2023 Wolf Creek 3 Mick Taylor Feature film - In development

Television

Year Film Role Notes
1976 The Outsiders TV series
1977 The Young Doctors Ben Stone TV series
1980 The Last Outlaw Edward 'Ned' Kelly Miniseries
1987 Fields of Fire Jacko Miniseries
1988 Fields of Fire II Miniseries
1989 Fields of Fire III Miniseries
1991 Inspector Morse Sergeant Scott Humphries TV series,
Season 5, episode 5: Promised Land
1994 Blue Heelers Charlie Glover TV series,
Season 1, episode 19: Good Cop, Bad Cop
1995 Police Rescue Guest role TV series
1995 Blue Murder Guest role TV series
1995-98 Better Homes and Gardens Presenter TV series
2000 Water Rats Guest role TV series
2001–06 McLeod's Daughters Terry Dodge TV series; Seasons 1–6 (recurring, 100 episodes)
2016–17 Wolf Creek Mick Taylor TV series; Seasons 1–2 (main role, 12 episodes)

References

  1. 1 2 "John Jarratt". IMDb.
  2. 1 2 3 "Interview with John Jarratt". Australian Story. 21 October 2005. Archived from the original on 2 August 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  3. ↑ Dolle, Kiri Ten. "John Jarratt uncovers skeletons in family's closet". Sunshine Coast Daily.
  4. ↑ Jarratt digs in his nice heels | The Age 7 June 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2013
  5. ↑ Thomas, Sarah (19 October 2015). "Wolf Creek TV adaptation under way with John Jarratt, Lucy Fry and Deborah Mailman". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  6. ↑ "BBC - Movies - interview - John Jarratt". www.bbc.co.uk.
  7. ↑ "Wolf at the Door". 24 October 2005 – via www.abc.net.au.
  8. ↑ Moore, Debi (27 March 2013). "Hannibal Cooks Up Some New Stills from Episode 1.02 – Amuse-Bouche". Dread Central.
  9. ↑ Outback serial killer takes the Mickey | The Age 9 February 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2013 Archived 5 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  10. 1 2 Bochenski, Natalie (27 January 2014). "Wolf Creek star directing new thriller on Gold Coast". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  11. ↑ "The Phoenix Files". Archived from the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  12. ↑ "Meet John Jarratt's ex-wives, including the woman he married twice!". www.nowtolove.com.au.
  13. ↑ "John Jarratt - Interview : Wolf Creek : Movies : Entertainment : Web Wombat". www.webwombat.com.au.
  14. ↑ Jameson, Julietta (21 August 2015). "Five places that made me: Actor John Jarratt". Traveller.com.au. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  15. ↑ "Jarratt sues Channel Seven over 'killer portrayal'". ABC News. 14 August 2007. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  16. ↑ Braithwaite, Alyssa (14 August 2007). "John Jarratt sues Today Tonight". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  17. ↑ "John Jarratt, Wolf Creek star, charged over rape allegation from 1970s". ABC News. 25 August 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  18. ↑ "Actor John Jarratt found not guilty of rape". The Guardian. Australian Associated Press. 5 July 2019 – via www.theguardian.com.
  19. ↑ Whitbourn, Michaela (22 December 2019). "John Jarratt settles defamation case against The Daily Telegraph". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  20. ↑ Russo, Caroline (15 August 2014). "John Jarratt to direct and act in GC film Stalkher". Hush Hush Biz. Hush Hush Gossip. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  21. ↑ Huntsdale, Justin (3 May 2022). "Filmmaker Nathan Colquhoun captures sailor James Morrill's fight for Indigenous rights". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
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