John Howard (born 22 October 1952) is an Australian stage and screen actor. He is best known for his appearances in the Mad Max film franchise as The People Eater, as well as his regular roles in television series and soap operas All Saints, Blue Heelers, SeaChange, Always Greener, and Packed to the Rafters.
Early years Howard was born in Corowa, New South Wales. He graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA).
Career Film Howard's first film role was in The Club. He appeared in the 1988 film Young Einstein, the 2001 film The Man Who Sued God, 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.
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.
Television serials and soaps Howard is also a television actor and has appeared in a number of Australian programs. He began his career as in Young Ramsay as Bob Scott (1979–1980) starred in the children's program The Girl from Tomorrow as the evil Silverthorn, and he played Frank Reilly in Wildside (1997–1998),
Regular roles include 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 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.
Filmography Film Year Title Role NotesRef. 1979 My Boys are Good Boys Grocery Store Owner (uncredited) 1980 The Club Geoff Hayward 1981 Experiment in Romance Short film1983 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 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 film1996 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 Tinley2015 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 Year Title Role NotesRef. 19?? The Austronauts Commander Buck Harrington TV film1980 Water Under the Bridge Archie 6 episodes Young Ramsay Bob Scott 2 episodes1981 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 episodes1983 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 film1995 G.P. John Schueler Episode: "Still Life" Blue Heelers Michael Fielding Episode: "Out of Harm's Way" Singapore Sling: Road to Mandalay Conrad Wolf TV film 1997–1998 Wildside Franky Reilly 5 episodes1998 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 episodes1999 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 episodes2002 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 episode2026Who The Hell is Hamish?TBATV series
Awards Year Awards Category Nominated work Result 1989 ARIA Music Awards Best Classical Album Australia Day / Child of Australia ARIA Award previous winners. 1991Sydney Critics Circle Awards Best Stage Actor 1992 Variety Club of Australia Stage Actor Heart Award 2001 Logie Awards Most Outstanding Actor in a Series SeaChange 2009Sydney Critics Circle Awards Best Stage Actor
Howard was also the recipient of the Centenary Medal, for Service to the Arts and the Community.
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