John Howard (Australian actor)

John Howard (born 22 October 1952[citation needed]) is an Australian stage and screen actor. Howard is best known for his appearances in television series Blue Heelers, SeaChange, Always Greener, All Saints and Packed to the Rafters, as well as his portrayal of The People Eater in the Mad Max franchise.

John Howard
Born (1952-10-22) 22 October 1952 (age 72)
OccupationActor
Years active1978−present

Career

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Film and television

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Howard was born in Corowa, New South Wales. He graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA). His first role was in The Club. He appeared in the 1988 film Young Einstein, the 2001 film The Man Who Sued God,[1] the 2006 film Jindabyne and had a minor supporting role in the 2012 Australian comedy Any Questions for Ben?, along with the 2015 released Australian road film Last Cab to Darwin.[2] In 2015, he also starred in George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road as The People Eater, a role he reprised in 2024 in the film's prequel, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.

Howard is also a television actor and has appeared in a number of Australian programs. He began his career as Bob Scott in Young Ramsay (1979–1980) starred in the children's program The Girl from Tomorrow as the evil Silverthorn, and he has played Frank Reilly in Wildside (1997–1998), Bob Jelly in SeaChange (1998–2000) and John Taylor in Always Greener (2001–2003). He also played Dr. Frank Campion in the Australian medical TV drama All Saints (2004–2009). He had a role in Packed to the Rafters for a season (2010–2011) and the first series of the ABC drama Janet King.

Theatre

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Howard served as the associate director of Sydney Theatre Company between 1992 and 1996. He also acted numerous roles in plays including Shrine, Rising Water, Mongrels, The Crucible, Life of Galileo, Dead White Males, and Measure for Measure.[3]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1979 My Boys are Good Boys Grocery Store Owner (uncredited)
1980 The Club Geoff Hayward
1981 Experiment in Romance Short film
1983 September '51 Paul Short film
Gary's Story Gary Short film
Bush Christmas Sly
1984 Razorback Danny
Strikebound Bashed Scab
1985 The Club Geoff Video (voice)
Best Enemies Read
Wrong World Extra
1986 My Country David Silvermen
1987 With Time to Kill Adam Sayer
1988 Young Einstein Preston Preston
Evil Angels Lyle Morris (aka A Cry in the Dark)
Around the World in 80 Ways Dr. Proctor
1994 The Gap Waiter Short film
1996 Tease Graham Short film
Dating the Enemy Davis
1997 Blackrock Kirby
1999 In a Savage Land Reverend Macgregor
2001 The Man Who Sued God Edward Piggott
2003 Take Away Burgies CEO
Japanese Story Richards
2004 A Man's Gotta Do Eddy
2006 Jindabyne Carl
2010 In Silence Fred Short film
2012 Any Questions for Ben? Priest
2014 Grace Under Water Ken Short film
Twisted Minds Greg Tinley
2015 UnIndian Mr. Saunders
1919 The Doctor Short film
Last Cab to Darwin Simmo
Mad Max: Fury Road The People Eater
2018 Extra Time Bill Langham
The Merger Bull Barlow
2022 Talk Back Short film
2024 Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga The People Eater

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
19?? The Austronauts Commander Buck Harrington TV film
1980 Water Under the Bridge Archie 6 episodes
Young Ramsay Bob Scott 2 episodes
1981 Bellamy Priest Episode: "Fizz"
Cop Shop Edward Whitelaw 2 episodes
A Town like Alice Donald Paget Episode #1.1
1982 The Highest Honor Captain R.C. Page TV film
1982–1989 A Country Practice Hamish Dalton / Julian Cockburn /
Sandy McIntosh
6 episodes
1983 Carson's Law Len Cartwright 2 episodes
Silent Reach Peter Mountford 2 episodes
1985 Heart of the High Country Ginger 6 episodes
1986 Studio 86 Author Episode: "Restoration Place"
1988 Richmond Hill Bob Russell TV series
1991 The Flying Doctors Mike Stone Episode: "Father & Son"
1991–1992 The Girl from Tomorrow Silverthorn 23 episodes
1993 Joh's Jury Hedley TV film
1995 G.P. John Schueler Episode: "Still Life"
Blue Heelers Michael Fielding Episode: "Out of Harm's Way"
The Road to Mandalay Conrad Wolf TV film
1997–1998 Wildside Franky Reilly 5 episodes
1998 Pacific Blue Dwayne Farrell Episode: "Cruz Control"
State Coroner Steve Coombs Episode: "On Thin Ice"
Children's Hospital Len Larkin Episode: "Home Truths"
Never Tell Me Never Uncle Darryl TV film
1998–2019 SeaChange Bob Jelly 47 episodes
1999 Water Rats Sven Larsen 2 episodes
Heartbreak High Tony Moss Episode #7.16
Flipper Jack Cawley Episode: "Lost and Found"
2000 The Games John Howard Episode: "Land Claim"
2001 Changi Ken Episode: "Gordon's Will"
Stingers Robert Lake Episode: "Family Values"
2001–2003 Always Greener John Taylor 50 episodes
2001–2009 All Saints Jonathan Healy / Dr. Frank Campion 232 episodes
2002 Tanya and Floyd Teddy TV film
The Road from Coorain Angus TV film
2004 Jessica Georgie Thomas Miniseries
2008 The Real Seachange Narrator TV series
2010–2012 Packed to the Rafters Tom Jennings 17 episodes
2011 City Homicide Alan Sullivan 5 episodes
2014 Janet King Steven Blakely 2 episodes
2016 Soul Mates Sarge 4 episodes
2017 The Warriors Bill Shepard 8 episodes
2019 Get Krack!n Bill Langham 2 episodes
2021 Bump Hippy Episode: "Driftwood"
2024 Colin from Accounts Brian Crapp 1 episode

Awards

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Year Awards Category Nominated work Result Ref.
1989 ARIA Music Awards Best Classical Album Australia Day / Child of Australia (with Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Australian Youth Orchestra, & Joan Carden) Nominated [4]
1991 Sydney Critics Circle Awards Best Stage Actor Won [5]
1992 Variety Club of Australia Stage Actor Heart Award N/A Won [5]
2001 Logie Awards Most Outstanding Actor in a Series SeaChange Won [6]
2009 Sydney Critics Circle Awards Best Stage Actor Won [5]

Howard was also the recipient of the Centenary Medal, for Service to the Arts and the Community.[5]

References

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  1. ^ "Australian Television: All Saints: Profiles: John Howard".
  2. ^ "Last Cab to Darwin". IMDb. 10 June 2016.
  3. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 March 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ ARIA Award previous winners. "ARIA Awards – Winners by Award". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d "Shrine program" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 March 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  6. ^ "2001 Logie Awards". Australiantelevision.net. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
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