David Dalaithngu, the Australian Aboriginal actor, who rose to world fame in 1986 with his role as Neville Bell in Dundee Crocodile, died at the age of 68, four years after the discovery of lung cancer.
“It is with deep sadness that I share with the inhabitants of South Australia the death of an emblematic artist, who marked the history of Australian cinema and Aboriginal representation on screen”, said Steven Marshall, Prime Minister of the State of South Australia, in a statement, Tuesday, November 29.
Mr. Dalaithngu, from the Mandhalpingu clan of the Yolngu people and raised in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory of Australia, first burst the screen in Hiking (1971), launching a career spanning nearly fifty years, crowned with the Un certain regard prize for best actor at Cannes in 2013 for Charlie’s Country.
The actor’s family, known during his lifetime as David Gulpili, requested that he be called only David Dalaithngu, in accordance with native custom for those recently deceased.
“He was a brother, a son, a friend, a father, a grandfather and a husband. Actor, dancer, singer and painter, he was also one of the greatest artists Australia has ever known ”, said Mr. Marshall.
“Never forget me”
The life of the Aboriginal actor and dancer was also marked by periods of alcoholism and poverty. In September 2011, he was sentenced to one year in prison for hitting his wife while intoxicated with a broom.
Two years ago, receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award, Mr. Dalaithngu recalled his casting for the film Hiking when he was a teenager.
“I was a young boy growing up and going to school. They came looking for an aboriginal boy who could play that role, throw a spear, dance and sing, and they said, ‘Yes, he’s very good’ ”, he said in a video released at the National Aboriginal and Islander Day Committee awards ceremony.
He also spoke of his cancer, concluding with: “Never forget me while I’m here. I will never forget you. I will always remember you, even though I am gone forever. “