Crocodile Dundee was one of the smash hits of the 1980s. The movie, which tells the story of an Australian bushman named Michael J. Mick Crocodile Dundee, made hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office and stands as the highest grossing Australian-made film of all time. But few know the story of the real man behind the movie: Rod Ansell.Jim Pozarik/Getty ImagesRod Ansell in 1988.A decade before the film dominated box offices around the world, Ansell grabbed headlines in Australia by surviving 56 days deep in the Australian bush. His survival story made him a national celebrity, and the writers of Crocodile Dundee purportedly came up with their idea for the Crocodile Dundee character after seeing him give a barefoot interview in 1981.But Ansell never saw a dime from the movie. And the final years of his life saw him caught in a downward spiral, bitter toward the filmmakers, angry with the Australian government, and addicted to amphetamines.Tragically, Rod Ansell, the real-life Crocodile Dundee, died in a shootout with the police in 1999. This is his story. Rod Ansells 56 Days Of Survival In The BushBorn on Oct. 1, 1954, in Queensland, Australia, Rodney William Ansell found sudden fame by getting lost. In the spring of 1977, Ansell set out on a fishing trip he may have actually been poaching crocodiles when his boat capsized in the Victoria River. The 23-year-old found himself stranded more than 100 miles from the nearest settlement. And since Ansell had planned to be on his fishing trip for months, no one was looking for him. Ansell wasnt totally unprepared. He had a rifle, two knives, a few cans of food, and some tarpaulin. But he was deep in the Australian bush, surrounded by dingos, crocodiles, and snakes. With no hope of immediate rescue, Ansell had to get creative to keep himself and his two dogs alive. YouTubeThe Fitzmaurice River in Australia, where Rod Ansell was stranded for months.He killed buffalo and drank their blood to avoid dehydration; Ansell slept in trees alongside snakes to avoid crocodiles, followed bees to their hive so he could eat their honey, and wrote poetry in his head to keep himself sane. Finally, after 56 days later in the bush, Rod Ansell crossed paths with some Aboriginal men, who brought him back to civilization. And before long, word of his incredible survival story spread across the country. Becoming The Real-Life Crocodile DundeeAfter the press caught wind of Rod Ansells survival story, he became a national celebrity. Ansell capitalized on his newfound fame by reenacting his survival story in the 1979 documentary To Fight the Wild, followed by a book of the same name.Though some doubted Ansells story experienced bushmen wondered why he had not simply followed the river back to civilization Rod Ansells fame only continued to grow. Jim Pozarik/Getty ImagesRod Ansell in 1988.In 1981, Ansell was flown to Sydney to be interviewed by the English television broadcaster Michael Parkinson. He showed up to the interview barefoot he hadnt worn shoes much since his survival experience. And as The Independent reported in Ansells obituary, Ansell told Parkinson that he had eschewed the bed in his five-star hotel, preferring to sleep on the floor. The interview was seen by Paul Hogan, an Australian actor and comedian. As Hogan later acknowledged, Ansells story and his embrace of the wild life over luxury gave Hogan the idea for a screenplay. Alongside two other writers, Hogan wrote Crocodile Dundee, a fish-out-of water film about a crocodile hunter who must navigate a visit to New York City. The 1986 film was a hit: it made $328 million at the box office. At the time, Ansell, his wife, and their two young sons were living deep in the wild, 10 miles from the nearest phone. According to People, Ansell began to hear about the movie and its similarity to his life. Eventually, he made the trek into civilization to see Crocodile Dundee for himself. \Paramount PicturesPaul Hogan as Mick Crocodile Dundee.An excellent movie, hey? Ansell stated. Good fun. But it was so obvious where he got his material from. Rod Ansells Downward Spiral And DeathThough he enjoyed Crocodile Dundee, Rod Ansell soon changed his tune about the movie. For one, he never saw a penny from the filmmakers. For another, when he tried to market himself as the real-life Crocodile Dundee to promote his tourism business, he was threatened with legal action. In the years that followed, Ansells problems multiplied. In the 1980s, he bitterly fought the Australian government over a plan to eradicate wild buffalo, in order to contain the spread of tuberculosis. Ansell lost the battle, and was forced to kill thousands of the buffalo he had hoped to domesticate. Then, in the 1990s, Ansell lost his ranch, his marriage failed, and he was arrested for stealing cattle and assaulting a fellow rancher.To Fight The WildRod Ansells life sadly ended in tragedy. By the mid-1990s, Ansell was bitter with the Crocodile Dundee filmmakers, angry at the government, and living with his girlfriend some 300 miles south of Darwin. The couple also had begun abusing drugs. The Herald Sun reported that Ansell smoked marijuana and injected amphetamines with vengeance, causing him to spiral into a drug-induced psychosis. Sadly, Rod Ansell never recovered from his downward spiral. On August 2, 1999, Ansell shot and wounded two men in Darwin. His motive is unknown. Ansell was seemingly consumed with paranoia, and a coroner later pronounced that wretched drivel (drugs) had spurred Ansell to violence. The next morning, police surrounded the area and set up a roadblock. Though Ansell could have hidden in the bush, or otherwise evaded the roadblock, he chose to confront the police directly. As The Guardian reports, Ansell emerged from the bush with a shotgun and a rifle and opened fire on two police officers, Sergeant Glen Huitson and Constable Jim OBrien. Huitson was killed; OBrien returned fire, killing Ansell. The real-life Crocodile Dundee was 44 when he died. He left behind more questions than answers, and a tragic legacy of loss, drug use, and death. After this look at the tragic life of Rod Ansell, the real-life Crocodile Dundee, discover the story of Juliane Koepcke, the teenager who fell 10,000 feet out of a plane into the Amazon and somehow survived. Or, learn about Tami Oldham Ashcraft, the woman who survived 41 days adrift at sea and whose story later inspired the film Adrift.The post The Astounding Yet Tragic Tale Of Rod Ansell, The Real-Life Crocodile Dundee appeared first on All That's Interesting.