Rodney William Ansell was an Australian from "the bush" who became the inspiration for Paul Hogan

Paul Hogan

Paul Hogan, AM is an Australian actor best known for his role as Michael "Crocodile" Dundee from the Crocodile Dundee film series, for which he won a Golden Globe award.-Early life and career:...

's character in the 1986 movie Crocodile Dundee

Crocodile Dundee

"Crocodile" Dundee is a 1986 Australian comedy film set in the Australian Outback and in New York City. It stars Paul Hogan as the weathered Mick Dundee and Linda Kozlowski as Sue Charlton....

. He was killed in a shootout with police.

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 Victoria River mouth with only his two cattle dogs when his boat was capsized and sunk, possibly by a whale (more likely a crocodile). He managed to board his boat's tender, a small dinghy with only a single 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

Fitzmaurice River

The Fitzmaurice River is a river in Australia's Northern Territory. It was first charted in 1839 by European explorers aboard the HMS Beagle under the command of John Lort Stokes. It was named for Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice, a mate and assistant surveyor on the Beagle.The river drains into the...

 on tidal flows over the next 72 hours, becoming severely dehydrated before finding fresh water above the saltwater tidal range. He survived alone for two months by hunting and shooting wild 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.

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 base the character Crocodile Dundee on Ansell.

Death

He was killed in 1999 in a shootout with police, just south of Darwin

Darwin, Northern Territory

Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...

. Ansell was fired upon after ambushing Sgt. Glen Huitson and his partner Jamie O'Brian. Ansell shot and killed Sgt. Glen Huitson, but was soon taken down after Sgt. Glen Huitson's partner picked up his gun and killed Ansell.
He was found barefoot, with two high-powered rifles. Authorities had been searching for 12 hours to find an attacker of a nearby house.