David Gulpilil
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Gulpilil in 2006
Born      Gulpilil Ridjimiraril Dalaithngu
c.1953
Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia
Died      29 November 2021 (aged 67–68)
Murray Bridge, South Australia, Australia
Years active      1971–2019
Spouse(s)      Robyn Djunginy
Airlie Thomas
Miriam Ashley

Awards      Best Actor in a Leading Role
2002 The Tracker
David Gulpilil Ridjimiraril Dalaithngu AM (c.1953 – 29 November 2021), known professionally as David Gulpilil and posthumously for cultural reasons as David Dalaithngu for three days, was an Australian actor and dancer, known for the films Walkabout, Storm Boy, Rabbit-Proof Fence, and The Tracker.

He was an Aboriginal Australian of the Yolngu people who was raised in a traditional lifestyle in Arnhem Land in northern Australia, and was a skilled dancer as a young man when British director Nicolas Roeg recognised his talent.

Early life and education
Gulpilil was probably born in 1953,[1] although he states in the 2021 documentary about his life, My Name is Gulpilil, that he did not know how old he was. Local missionaries recorded his birth on 1 July 1953, based on "guesswork".[2] He was a man of the Mandjalpingu (Djilba) clan of the Yolngu people,[3] who are an Aboriginal people of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia.[4]

As a young boy, Gulpilil was an accomplished hunter, tracker, and ceremonial dancer. Gulpilil spent his childhood in the bush, outside the range of non-Aboriginal influences.[4] There he received a traditional upbringing in the care of his family. He attended the school at Maningrida in North East Arnhem Land,[4][5] where he was assigned the name "David".[6] When he came of age, Gulpilil was initiated into the Mandhalpuyngu tribal group. His skin group totemic animal was the kingfisher (the meaning of the name Gulpilil[7]) and his homeland was Marwuyu.[4][5]

After appearing in his first film, Walkabout, in 1971, Gulipilil became fluent in English, adding to his linguistic ability in several Aboriginal languages.[4]

Career

David at dancing practice in Lajamanu, July 1972
In 1969, Gulpilil's skill as a tribal dancer caught the attention of British filmmaker Nicolas Roeg, who had come to Maningrida scouting locations for a forthcoming film. Roeg promptly cast the 16-year-old unknown to play a principal role in his internationally acclaimed motion picture Walkabout, released in 1971. Gulpilil's on-screen charisma, combined with his acting and dancing skills, was such that he became an instant national and international celebrity. He travelled internationally, mingled with famous people, and was presented to heads of state.[5] During these travels to promote the film, he met and was impressed with John Lennon, Bob Marley, Bruce Lee, Marlon Brando, and Jimi Hendrix.[8][i]

In 1973 he sang a role in the sole recording of Margaret Sutherland's 1964 opera The Young Kabbarli,[9] which had been presented in November 1972.[10]

Gulpilil went on to appear in many more films and television productions. He played a lead role in the commercially successful and critically acclaimed Storm Boy (1976). He "dominated" the film The Last Wave (1977), with his performance as tribal Aboriginal man Chris Lee.[11]

Perhaps the most renowned traditional dancer in his country, he organised troupes of dancers and musicians and performed at festivals throughout Australia, including the prestigious Darwin Australia Day Eisteddfod dance competition, which he won four times.[5] In November 1997, Gulipilil's dance troupe performed at the second National Aboriginal Dance Conference in Adelaide (hosted by the National Aboriginal Dance Council Australia (NADCA)[12]), at which cultural and intellectual property rights and copyright issues for Australian Indigenous dancers were discussed. A free concert was given in Rymill Park / Murlawirrapurka.[13] The troupe was given a A$9,000 grant from the Northern Territory Government to attend the third conference[12] in Sydney in 1999.[14]

A documentary about his life, Gulpilil: One Red Blood, was aired on ABC Television in 2003. The title comes from a quote by Gulpilil: "We are all one blood. No matter where we are from, we are all one blood, the same".[15]

In March 2004, he performed in the autobiographical stage production, Gulpilil at the Adelaide Festival of Arts, to standing ovations.[16][17] This work, co-written with Reg Cribb, and directed by Neil Armfield, was based on stories of his life assembled into a script. These included tales from the making of Walkabout, performing at Buckingham Palace, and inadvertently causing a bomb scare at Cannes.[17] The show was later staged in Brisbane and Sydney.[18]

Gulpilil was a major creative influence throughout his life in both dance and film. He initiated and narrated the film Ten Canoes which won a Special Jury Prize at the 2006 Cannes Festival. The prize-winning, low-budget film, based on 1,000-year-old traditional story of misplaced love and revenge, features non-professional Aboriginal actors speaking their local language. Gulpilil collaborated with the director, Rolf de Heer, urging him to make the film, and although he ultimately withdrew from a central role in the project for "complex reasons,"[19] Gulpilil also provided the voice of the storyteller for the film. De Heer had directed Gulpilil in another film, The Tracker (2002). ...

Thank you for strting this thread, Sprint. I'm glad to see his recent passing commemorated on here.

Please continue with 'Charlie's Country'. I found it absolutely breath-taking.

I've loved him since 'Storm Boy'. An absolute Australian treasure.