Australian actor and director
John Jarratt (born 5 August 1952) 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. His father was a coal miner, and later a concreter working on the Snowy Mountains 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. 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, particularly making scarves for his school peers.
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 miniseries "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 (AA), an organisation in which he continues to be active.
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". In 2016, the "Wolf Creek" web television series debuted on Stan. The series saw Jarratt reprise his role as Mick Taylor. A second series aired in 2017.
Return to cinema.
In 2005, Jarratt had a major role in the Australian film "Wolf Creek", playing the villain Mick Taylor. 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.
In 2010, Jarratt starred in the exploitation film, "Bad Behaviour", written and directed by Joseph Sims. 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. In January 2014, Jarratt starred in and co-directed the romantic comedy thriller "StalkHer"; the film met with mixed reviews.
In April 2022, after a series of delays, some linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, another film, "Wolf Creek 3", was in the development phase, specifically, location scouting. It is set to be directed by Rachele Wiggins and written by Duncan Samarasinghe with Greg McLean as producer. In 2021, Altitude Film Distribution was scheduled to distribute in the United Kingdom, however this was abandoned. Jarratt will reprise his role as Taylor. The premise is "An American family takes a dream trip to the Australian outback and soon draws the attention of notorious serial killer Mick Taylor. A hellish nightmare ensues as the couple's two children escape only to be hunted by Australia's most infamous killer." In 2022, "Wolf Creek 3" was set to be released, with the tagline "There Will be Blood". On 30 August 2024, it was announced a new reboot for the franchise will begin filming in early 2025 titled as "Wolf Creek: Legacy" with Jarratt set to return and reprise the role and Sean Lahiff as new director.
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 Jarratt is no longer listed as being involved with the project.
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. 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. On 1 October 2015, Jarratt released his autobiography, "The Bastard from the Bush".
Legal issues.
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. 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.
On 25 August 2018, Jarratt was charged with rape after a woman came forward to report an alleged incident in 1976. Jarratt pleaded not guilty. After a five-day trial, he was found not guilty on 5 July 2019. 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.
References.
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