Chris Noonan Biography

Date of Birth: November 14, 1952

Australia native Chris Noonan originally planned to become an art teacher, but when he won third prize at the Sydney Film Festival short film competition at the age of 16, he realized that he had a talent and a love for filmmaking. He went on to study at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, then worked on various projects in his early 20s before winning 14 major awards for his 1980 documentary Stepping Out, which was screened all over the world. In 1985, his fact-based wartime drama, Cowra Breakout, which Noonan wrote and directed, was voted Best TV Screenplay in the NSW Premier's Literary Awards while his 1987 mini series, Vietnam, was voted Best Drama Series, Mini Series and Television Program of the year, with Noonan voted Best Director.

Noonan directed and wrote Police State (1988) for Australia television, but at the same time, he and George Miller, who’d been a producer on Noonan’s telefilm Vietnam and who had written the screenplays for three Mad Max films and the critically-acclaimed Lorenzo’s Oil, got together to write a screenplay based on Dick King-Smith’s novel Babe. The film took seven years from beginning to end, but the effort was worth it. Babe (1995) not only took in over US $240 million worldwide, but it won dozens of awards including a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Comedy, a British Comedy Award for Best Comedy Film, and an Oscar® for Best Visual Effects (it was nominated for 7 Oscars® in total, including Best Director, Best Picture and Best Writing). Noonan won a Best Director award from the Film Critics Circle of Australia, a Best New Director award from the New York Film Critics Circle and a Writer’s Guild of America Award for Best Screenplay.

Still based in Australia, Noonan lives on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean in South East Sydney.

Filmography (director):

The Third Witch (2008)
Miss Potter (2007)
Babe (1995)