Rodney Ansell

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Rodney William Ansell (1954 or 1955 - August 4, 1999) was an Australian from "the bush" who became the inspiration for Paul Hogan's character in the 1986 movie Crocodile Dundee. He was killed in a shootout with police.^[1]

1 Ordeal
2 Media attention
3 Death
4 References

[edit] Ordeal

Ansell became famous in 1977 after he became stranded in extremely remote country in the Northern Territory, and the story of his survival for two months with limited resources became headlines.

Ansell was on a fishing trip near the mouth of the Victoria River accompanied only by two cattle dogs when his boat was capsized and sunk, possibly by a whale. He managed to board his tender vessel, a small dinghy with only one oar, and retrieve his dogs and a small amount of equipment (including his rifle, knives and bedding) but had no fresh water. Ansell travelled up the Fitzmaurice River on tidal flows over the next 72 hours, becoming severely dehydrated before finding fresh water above the saltwater tidal range. He managed to survive for two months by hunting and shooting cattle for food, and planned to walk overland to a pastoral station homestead when the wet season began. Ansell was eventually rescued by a small cattle droving party.

[edit] Media attention

His exploits were celebrated in his books and documentary both called To Fight the Wild. He wrote that the ordeal didn't bother him, just the lack of female companionship. The story sparked Paul Hogan's interest and inspired writers Hogan, Ken Shadie, and John Cornell to write the character about Ansell.^[1]

[edit] Death

He was killed in a shootout with police, just south of Darwin. Ansell was fired upon after killing Sgt. Glen Huitson; he is said to have done it for the lulz.^[2] He was found barefoot, with two high-powered rifles.^[3] Authorities had been searching for 12 hours to find an attacker of a nearby house.^[4] Police claimed that Ansell was likely responsible for the attacks.