Born John Hadley Pain[1] in Manly, a suburb of Sydney, Thompson was five years old when his mother Marjorie died, leaving his father Harold, [a purser for Qantas seconded to the RAAF during the war] unable to care for him and his brother, David.[2][3][4] He was sent to "LakeHouse orphanage" in Narrabeen by his aunt and subsequently adopted by the poet and ABC broadcaster John Thompson[5] and his wife Pat, after which he changed his surname.[6] Jack is film reviewer Peter Thompson's adopted brother.[7]
Thompson was educated at Sydney Boys High School.[8] He left school at 14, became a jackaroo in the Northern Territory, and took labouring jobs in New South Wales.[8]
After working in an agricultural lab, Thompson at the age of 20, joined the army in 1960 so that he could earn a science degree.
He guest-starred on The Evil Touch and Homicide again; he also appeared in Marijuana: Possession and the Law (1974).[16][17]
Films and stardom
Thompson made his film debut in That Lady from Peking in 1968, and his first lead role was in TV movie Silo 15 (filmed in 1969 and released in 1971).
He had a supporting role in Wake in Fright in 1971, and he received excellent reviews for his performance in one of the stories in Libido in 1973, with his segment written by David Williamson. He also starred in TV movie Linehau in 1973.
Thompson became an Australian film star playing the title role in Petersen (1974), written by Williamson and directed by Tim Burstall. The film was a success at the box office.[18] He did the TV movie Human Target (1974), then starred in the highly acclaimed Sunday Too Far Away (1975), playing a shearer.
Thompson played the title role in Scobie Malone (1975), based on the Jon Cleary novel Helga's Web. It was produced by American Casey Robinson, who said "Jack Thompson is a great part of my reason to become involved in this venture. I have no doubt whatsoever that when this film is seen overseas he'll be turned instantly into an international star. There aren't many male actors like him around any more. There's something there that reminds me very much of Bogart."[19] The film was a failure at the box office.[20]
Thompson had a supporting role in Caddie (1976), directed by Crombie, which was a big success.[22]
Thompson had become nationally famous playing "macho" type roles. "I think it reflects its time so accurately," he said later. "There was a preoccupation with the macho Australian male; it's a thing that had to be examined or purged in film."[14]
Character actor
Thompson then deliberately decided to take character parts, out of a fear of typecasting and "also an understanding that unless I could get out of that target area, then I wouldn't be allowed to be seen as an actor."[14]
Thompson returned to acting after another break to play the lead role in a sex comedy, The Journalist (1979). "I haven't made any films since then because I haven't liked the parts I've been offered, and also I've been too busy promoting the Australian film industry overseas", said Thompson at the time.[23] The film became a notorious flop. He worked on a script with his brother called Welcome Stranger.[14]
He was offered a role in Breaker Morant (1980), directed by Bruce Beresford - the part of Private Hancock. Thompson turned it down, Beresford rewrote the script and offered him the part again, and Thompson accepted. Then filming was delayed. John Hargreaves who was to play the lawyer became unavailable; Thompson took that part and Bryan Brown played Hancock.[14] The film was a considerable success. Thompson won Best Supporting Actor at Cannes.[24]
"You get awfully fed up with the public image that you must live up to," he said in an interview around this time. "I just want to continue becoming a part of the Australian film industry, not for materialistic reasons but because I enjoy it. I not only want to act, but produce and possibly direct".[14]
Back in Australia Thompson starred in a mini series about wharfies in the Depression, Waterfront (1983). He went to Europe to star in a swashbuckler for Paul Verhoeven, Flesh + Blood (1985), then returned to Australia to star in Burke and Wills (1985). This film was a box office disappointment.
Thompson had a key role in two films directed by Brett Leonard: the Marvel Comics based Man-Thing (2005) and Feed (2006), the latter written by and starring his son.
He has also acted in television miniseries and appeared as the host of the Channel 7 factual series Find My Family.
Other appearances
Thompson was the first nude male centrefold in Cleo in 1972.[27] He has also appeared in television commercials, including as the face of the Bank of Melbourne for a decade,[28] and for Claytons. Thompson is featured in a series of recordings of Australian poetry, reciting poems by Henry Lawson, Banjo Paterson, C. J. Dennis, Patrick Joseph Hartigan (aka John O'Brien) and John O'Grady (see Discography below).[29] Interviewed in the Sydney Morning Herald he explains his love of poetry, noting that 'Poetry is sometimes seen as too arty and perhaps not a suitable interest for blokes.'[30]
Personal life
Thompson married Beverley Hackett in 1963, and the five-year marriage produced his son Patrick Thompson. He met Leona King and her sister Bunkie in 1969, and they entered into a 15-year polyamorous relationship. Leona was 20 and Bunkie was 15 when the relationship began.[31][32] Bunkie left the relationship in 1985, and is estranged from her sister.[33] Leona remained with Thompson, and gave birth to his second son, Billy.[34]
Thompson featured in the first episode of the Australian version of Who Do You Think You Are?, which was televised on 13 January 2008 on SBS, with Thompson discovering that his great-grandfather was Captain Thomas Pain, and his great-great uncle was Alfred Lee, a prominent figure in Sydney society, who donated the journal of Joseph Banks, from Captain Cook's navigation to Australia in the 1770s, to the Mitchell Library in Sydney.[35]
^ abcdef"JACK THOMPSON Reluctant Star". Tharunka. Vol. 26, no. 25. New South Wales, Australia. 14 October 1980. p. 9. Retrieved 3 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
^"LIFE STYLE". The Canberra Times. Vol. 53, no. 15, 828. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 23 January 1979. p. 13. Retrieved 3 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Thompson wins at Cannes". The Canberra Times. Vol. 54, no. 16, 312. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 24 May 1980. p. 1. Retrieved 3 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.