David Gulpilil (full name David Gulpilil Ridjimiraril Dalaithngu), who has died at the age of 68 from cancer, will be remembered as a pioneering actor who broke barriers in representing Australian indigenous people.
Over the course of half a century, Gulpilil appeared in dozens of films and TV series, but it was towards the end of his career that his craft received more critical acclaim.
In May 2014, he won a Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard competition for the role he played in the film Charlie’s Country (2013). That film also earned him an Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts award for best lead actor and Australia Film Critics Association awards for best actor and best screenplay in 2015.
Though not autobiographical, the film touches on some of the tensions that Gulpilil faced in his own life as he straddled different cultures. He worked on it alongside Rolf de Heer, a director he collaborated with more than once, including on the critically acclaimed documentary My Name is Gulpilil, where he spoke candidly as he approached the end of his life.
Speaking about the actor, Nicholas Godfrey, a lecturer at Flinders University, said: “Since the start of his cinematic career, David Gulpilil has occupied the living embodiment of indigenous Australia on screen.”
Though his significance in representing indigenous Australian life in cinema cannot be undermined, some have questioned the agency he had over his career. He appeared in his first film Walkabout (1971) after British filmmaker Nicolas Roeg scouted him while he was a 16-year-old ceremonial dancer.
He couldn’t speak English at time of filming and did not speak it throughout the movie. When asked by a fan why his character died by suicide at the end of the movie, he responded that he wasn’t sure, and would like to know too. Laughter followed.
Germaine Greer wrote a scathing critique of the film Australia (2008) which featured him. Writing in the Guardian, she remarked that “none of the Aboriginal characters in Australia is at all developed, and none seen to be a person in his or her own right”. For his role in Crocodile Dundee (1986) which holds the Guinness World record for the highest box office film gross for an Australian film at US$328m (£218m), Gulpilil was paid only $10,000 (£7,567).
He also struggled with depression and alcohol addiction at points in his life. In 2011, he was sentenced to 12 months in jail for breaking his wife’s arm while under the influence. Born in Arnhem Land in Australia’s Northern Territory, Gulpilil described himself as a “full-blooded Australian Aboriginal” and was from the Mandhalpuyngu clan. He was given the name David at an English school run by the government.
Following the death of his parents, he was raised by his wider family. He was married several times and is survived by seven children.
David Gulpilil, actor, recorded birth date 1 July 1953, died 29 November 2021
