Jack Thompson, AM (born John Hadley Pain; 31 August 1940) is an Australian award-winning actor, who is a major figure of Australian cinema, particularly Australian New Wave.
He is best known as a lead actor in several acclaimed Australian films, including such classics as Petersen in 1974, Sunday Too Far Away in 1975, The Club in 1980 and The Man from Snowy River (1982)
In 2002, he was made an honorary member of the Australian Cinematographers Society
Thompson won Cannes and AFI acting awards. He was the recipient of a Living Legend Award at the 2005 Inside Film Awards.
Early life
Born John Hadley Pain in Manly, a suburb of Sydney, Thompson was three years old when his mother died, leaving his father, a merchant seaman, unable to care for him and his brother, David. He was sent to "LakeHouse orphanage" in Narrabeen by his aunt and subsequently adopted by the poet and ABC broadcaster John Thompson and his wife Pat, after which he changed his surname. Jack is film reviewer Peter Thompson's adopted brother.
Thompson was educated at Sydney Boys High School. He left school at 14, and became a jackaroo in the Northern Territory, as...More about Jack Thompson...
