Emil Minty

In a case of achieving no more than 15 Minutes of Fame, Australian actor Emil Minty rose to minor cult status through his role as The Feral Kid in the 1981 film, "Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior," the post-apocalyptic, sci-fi sequel that starred a young and still rising Mel Gibson. Minty earned the part amidst a large crop of hopefuls at just eight years old. As The Feral Kid, Minty played something like Mad Max's sidekick, a desert survivor in the form of a miniature caveman, bedecked in long hair and animal skins and speaking only in grunts. Minty made just two more feature films after "Mad Max," both low-profile Australian productions, though he did have a decent run in television during the late 1980s. In '87 he co-starred in the eight-episode mini-series "The Haunted School," and at the end of the decade he guest-starred on six episodes of the critically-acclaimed hospital drama "A Country Practice." By 18, Minty's child-acting career had essentially ended, though he did make an appearance in a Noah Taylor-starring short in 1992, when he was about 20. Post-acting life, Minty has remained in his native Sydney, working as a manager of a local jewelry store and limiting his visibility to a 2006 appearance on the highly appropriate Aussie series, "Where Are They Now."