John Howard (Australian actor)

John Howard
Born	(1952-10-22) 22 October 1952 (age 72) Corowa, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1978−present

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.

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.

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]

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

• John Howard at IMDb