John Jarratt

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.

His favourite thing to make was scarves for his school peers.

John Jarratt (born 5 August 1951 ) is an Australian television film actor, producer and director and TV presenter who rose to fame through his work in the Australian New Wave.

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.

Jarratt graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in 1973.

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.

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 Hydro-Electric Scheme.

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.

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 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 appeared in a commercial for Husqvarna, where he proved the tools' efficiency by playing his character in Wolf Creek.

In 2010, Jarratt starred in the ensemble exploitation extravaganza, 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 May 2013, Jarratt filmed a guest star role in the third instalment of the ABC telemovie series, Jack Irish: Dead Point.

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 romantic comedy thriller StalkHer, the film met with mixed reviews.

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

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