Kelly has figured prominently in Australian cinema since the 1906 release of '' The Story of the Kelly Gang '' , the world 's first dramatic feature-length film . Among those who have portrayed him on screen are Australian rules football player Bob Chitty ( '' The Glenrowan Affair '' , 1951 ) , rock musician Mick Jagger ( '' Ned Kelly '' , 1970 ) and Heath Ledger ( '' Ned Kelly '' , 2003 ) . In the visual arts , Sidney Nolan 's 1946 – 47 Kelly series is considered " one of the greatest sequences of Australian painting of the twentieth century " . His stylised depiction of Kelly 's helmet has become an iconic Australian image ; hundreds of performers dressed as " Nolanesque Kellys " starred in the opening ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics . In 2001 , Peter Carey won the Man Booker Prize for his novel '' True History of the Kelly Gang '' , written from Kelly 's perspective . The Ned Kelly Awards are Australia 's premier prizes for crime fiction and true crime writing . Kelly is the subject of songs by musicians as diverse as Johnny Cash , Waylon Jennings , and Midnight Oil . The country music band Reckless Kelly is named after Ned Kelly
opening ceremony
2000 Summer Olympics opening ceremony
Ned Kelly