John Jarratt

John Jarratt
Jarratt at the Sydney premiere of Man of Steel, 24 June 2013
Born (1952-08-05) 5 August 1952
Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation Actor
Years active 1975–present
Children 6

John Jarratt (born 5 August 1952) is an Australian television film actor, producer and director who rose to fame through his work in the Australian New Wave. He is best known for portraying the main antagonist Mick Taylor in the Wolf Creek film series. He also voiced the protagonist's father, Jack Hunter, in an audio drama adaptation of The Phoenix Files.[1][2][3] As of August 26, 2018 Jarratt's name has been removed from the project and it is unclear if he will appear in the final instalment.

Early life

Jarratt was born and grew up in Wongawilli, a small rural town near Wollongong, New South Wales, and later in the Snowy Mountains area.[4] Jarratt's 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.[5]

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.[4]

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.[4]

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.

In May 2013, Jarratt filmed a guest star role in the third instalment of the ABC telemovie series, Jack Irish: Dead Point.[6]

Return to cinema

In 2005, Jarratt had a major role in the Australian film Wolf Creek, playing the villain Mick Taylor.[7] 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.[8]

In 2010, Jarratt starred in the ensemble exploitation extravaganza, Bad Behaviour, written and directed by Joseph Sims.[9] 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[10]

In January 2014, a new thriller called StalkHer began filming on the Gold Coast, Queensland.[11] The film is co-directed with Kaarin Fairfax by Jarratt, who also stars in the production.[2] The producer of the film is 'OZPIX', a production company partly owned by Jarratt.[3] Filming was completed in February 2014, and screened later in the year.[12][13]

On 1 October 2015, Jarratt released his autobiography, The Bastard from the Bush.[14] On 19 October, a six-part television adaptation of Wolf Creek was announced, with Jarratt reprising his role as Mick Taylor. It was commissioned by streaming company Stan and was released on 12 May 2016.[15] 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.[16]

Personal life

Jarratt has been married four times. With his first wife, Rosa Miano, he had two children, Zadia and Ebony. He was married to actress Noni Hazlehurst,[17] with whom he had two more children, Charlie and William. He later married Cody Jarrett, whom he met as a producer on Better Homes and Gardens, and had a further two boys, Jackson and Riley. Cody and John separated in late 2011. He is now remarried to his first wife.

Jarratt is now living in Doonan on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, after living in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales.

In August 2007, Jarratt filed a lawsuit against the Seven Network over a story which ran on the current affairs show Today Tonight. Jarrett 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.[18] The story allegedly 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.[19]

Jarratt was charged with historic 1970s rape allegations in 25 August 2018 according to Australian media reports.[20]

Filmography

Year Film Role Notes
1975 The Great Macarthy Macarthy
Picnic at Hanging Rock Albert Crundall
1977 Summer City Sandy
The Sound of Love David
1978 Blue Fin Sam Snell
Little Boy Lost Vic Tanner
1979 The Odd Angry Shot Bill
1980 The Last Outlaw Edward 'Ned' Kelly
1982 We of the Never Never Dandy
Next of Kin Barney
Fluteman Fluteman
1984 The Settlement Tommy Martin
1985 The Naked Country Mick Conrad
1987 Dark Age Steve Harris
Fields of Fire Jacko
Australian Dream Todd
1988 Top Enders Jack
Fields of Fire II Jacko
1989 Fields of Fire III
1991 Inspector Morse (TV Series) Sergeant Scott Humphries Episode: Promised Land
1995 All Men Are Liars Barry
1996 Dead Heart Charlie
2001-07 McLeod's Daughters Terry Dodge
2005 Wolf Creek Mick Taylor
2007 Rogue Russell
The Final Winter Colgate
2008 Australia Sergeant
Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! Himself Documentary
2010 Needle Paul the Coroner
Bad Behaviour Ricky
2011 Savages Crossing Phil
2012 Django Unchained Le-Quint Dickey Mining Company Employee
Shiver Franklin Rood
2013 Wolf Creek 2 Mick Taylor
100 Bloody Acres Burke
2014 Jack Irish: Dead Point Sen. Sgt Laurie Olsen
2015 StalkHer Jack Also co-director.[2]
Produced by OZPIX (Jarratt is a part-owner).[3]
2016-17 Wolf Creek Mick Taylor TV series 2 Seasons
2018 Boar Lozza

References

  1. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/PreachrsPodcast/posts/1372513419497925
  2. 1 2 3 Bochenski, Natalie (27 January 2014). "Wolf Creek star directing new thriller on Gold Coast". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 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.
  4. 1 2 3 "Interview with John Jarratt". Australian Story. 21 October 2005. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  5. ↑ https://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/john-jarratt-uncovers-skeletons-in-familys-closet/3402331/
  6. ↑ Jarratt digs in his nice heels | The Age 7 June 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2013
  7. ↑ Interview with the BBC
  8. ↑ Interview with Australian Story
  9. ↑ Wolf Creek's John Jarratt Indulges in More Bad Behaviour
  10. ↑ Outback serial killer takes the Mickey | The Age 9 February 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2013 Archived 5 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
  11. ↑ StalkHer - Offizielle Seite
  12. ↑ Potts, Andrew (7 February 2014). "Aussie actor John Jarratt has been filming his latest film StalkHer at Alamanda Private Hospital". Gold Coast Bulletin. News Ltd. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  13. ↑ John Jarratt's Directorial Debut StalkHer Gets a Poster
  14. ↑ Jameson, Julietta (21 August 2015). "Five places that made me: Actor John Jarratt". Traveller.com.au. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  15. ↑ 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.
  16. ↑ http://www.preachrspodcast.net/Preachrs_Podcast_-_OnLine_and_OnStage/The_Phoenix_Files.html
  17. ↑ Web wombat: Interview with John Jarratt, Star of the movie Wolf Creek
  18. ↑ "Jarratt sues Channel Seven over 'killer portrayal'". ABC News. 14 August 2007. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  19. ↑ Braithwaite, Alyssa (14 August 2007). "John Jarratt sues Today Tonight". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  20. ↑ Cormack, Lucy (26 August 2018). "John Jarratt's accuser speaks up about alleged historical sexual assault". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
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