Described to be from "the bush", Ansell became famous in 1977 after he was stranded in extremely remote country in the Northern Territory, and the story of his survival for 56 days with limited supplies became news headlines around the world.

[5][6] As a young man, he made a living hunting feral water buffalo in the Top End, the meat being exported to foreign markets.

[citation needed] In May 1977, shortly after completing a buffalo catching job in Kununurra, Western Australia, Ansell decided to travel to the Victoria River on what he claimed was a fishing trip.

But with no fresh water, Ansell was in a perilous situation, stranded almost 200 kilometres (120 mi) from the nearest permanent human settlement,[5] and one of his dogs had a broken leg.

One day, Ansell heard the distinctive tinkling of horse-bells, which drew him to two Aboriginal stockmen and their cattle manager, Luke McCall.

He later claimed the experience was hardly a big deal, explaining:All the blokes up in this country, who work with cattle, ringers, stockmen, bull-catches, whatever, all of them, have really narrow shaves all the time.

[9] In 1977, after becoming a sensation in the Australian media following his harrowing ordeal in the Outback, Ansell met Joanne van Os, 22, a radio operator originally from Melbourne who was then working at the remote Aboriginal community of Wadeye.

In 1979, filmmaker Richard Oxenburgh asked Ansell to relive his adventures in the documentary film To Fight the Wild, which the following year was published as a book.

[5] While staying at the famous five-star Sebel Townhouse Hotel, he slept in his sleeping bag on the floor rather than on his bed, and was reportedly mystified by his room's bidet.

[6][7] Ansell's interview and curious city antics sparked Paul Hogan's interest, inspiring him and co-writers Ken Shadie and John Cornell to create the character Mick "Crocodile" Dundee.

According to Ansell's friends, he was "at one" with Arnhem Land's Indigenous Australians, and like the film character, he spoke "Urapunga" (Ngalakgan) fluently, having become a "fully initiated white man".

[6][7] An "unassuming achiever" who embodied "the spirit of the Territory", Ansell was named Territorian of the Year in 1987 for helping to put Top End on the world map.

[5] However, Ansell's new-found fame alienated him from his peers, and he later lamented of his rejection back home:Proving the point about the story being true or not wouldn't matter that much.

[6] Over the next several years, the couple's drug addiction became more destructive, culminating in a psychotic episode that ultimately claimed Ansell's life in a shootout with police.

[4][6] Ansell ambushed veteran Sergeant Glen Anthony Huitson and his partner, rookie Constable Jamie O'Brien, with a shot from Ansell's .30-30 Winchester lever-action rifle deflecting off a police car and fatally striking Huitson in the abdomen below his bulletproof vest, and severely injured onlooker Jonathan Anthonysz in the pelvis and lower back.

A gun-battle immediately erupted between Constable O'Brien and Ansell upon arrival of specialist police officers from the Territory Response Group.

[4] The battle ended the authorities' 12-hour search for an attacker who shot and seriously injured two nearby residents (David Hobden in the eye and Brian Williams in his index finger) the previous night.