David Gulpilil

David Gulpilili AM
Gulpilil in 2006
Born	David Gulpilil Ridjimiraril Dalaithngu 1953 (age 67–68) Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia
Years active	1971–2019
Spouse(s)	Robyn Djunginy (?–2003) Miriam Ashley (2004–present)
Awards	Best Actor in a Leading Role 2002 The Tracker

David Gulpilil Ridjimiraril Dalaithngu AM (born c. 1953) is an Aborginal Australian actor and dancer, known for the films Walkabout, Storm Boy and Ten Canoes. He is a Yolngu man 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 Nicholas Roeg recognised his talent.

Personal life[]

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. He is a man of the Mandjalpingu (Djilba) clan of the Yolngu people, ^[2] who are an Aboriginal people of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia.^[3] 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 Australia's North East Arnhem Land. When he came of age, Gulpilil was initiated into the Mandhalpuyngu tribal group. His skin group totemic animal is the kingfisher and his homeland is Marwuyu. After appearing in his first film, he added English to several Aboriginal languages in which he was already fluent.^[5]

Gulpilil retired from acting in 2019, and was diagnosed with lung cancer, which prevented him from attending the 2019 NAIDOC Awards, where he was recognised with the lifetime achievement award.^[6] Gulpilil has two daughters: Phoebe Marson and MaKia McLaughlin.^[7]

Career[]

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 sixteen-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 to distant lands, 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, Muhammad Ali, and Bruce Lee.

After his high-profile performance in Walkabout, 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).^[8] He "dominated" the film The Last Wave (1977), with his performance as tribal Aboriginal man Chris Lee.^[8] He also had a major role in Baz Luhrmann's Australia (2008).

Gulpilil has been 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 Indigenous 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,"^[9] Gulpilil also provided the voice of the storyteller for the film. De Heer had directed Gulpilil in another film, The Tracker (2002).^{[citation needed]}

He sang a role in the sole recording (1973) of Margaret Sutherland's 1964 opera The Young Kabbarli.^{[citation needed]}

Perhaps the most renowned traditional dancer in his country, he has organised troupes of dancers and musicians and has performed at festivals throughout Australia, including the prestigious Darwin Australia Day Eisteddfod dance competition, which he won four times.^[5] At a conference in Adelaide in the summer of 2000, Gulpilil performed traditional dances and shared his recovery story with hundreds of Indigenous young people. He continues to provide mentorship to them, while lending his support to social and political causes such as the pursuit of tribal land claims for indigenous people. He joins other Australian artists in calling for government recognition of, and compensation for, the suffering of the "Stolen Generation" – children of mixed European and Aboriginal parentage who were forcibly removed from their Indigenous families and placed in mission schools or with white adoptive parents far from their kin and homelands.^{[citation needed]}

In addition to his career in dance, music, film and television, Gulpilil is also an acclaimed storyteller. He has written the text for two volumes of children's stories based on Yolngu beliefs. These books also feature photographs and drawings by Australian artists and convey Gulpilil's reverence for the landscape, people and traditional culture of his homeland. Gulpilil appeared in an autobiographical stage production, Gulpilil, in March 2004 at the Adelaide Festival of Arts 2004.^{[citation needed]}

A documentary about his life, Gulpilil: One Red Blood, was aired on 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".^{[citation needed]}

In 2007, he starred in Richard Friar's hour-long independent documentary, Think About It! which was focussed on Indigenous rights and the anti-war movement and included commentary from former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, former Greens leader Bob Brown, and Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks.^[10][11]

In 2015, Gulpilil appeared in the documentary Another Country directed by . The two worked together again when Reynolds directed a documentary about the actor's life, My Name Is Gulpilil. The film premiered at the 2021 Adelaide Festival.^[12]

Legal cases[]

Offensive weapons charges[]

On 9 July 2006, Gulpilil was staying at the home of Vaughan Williams in Darwin, when an argument started over his drinking (Williams' home had a "no alcohol policy").^[13] Williams asked Gulpilil, his wife and their friend (referred to as "JJ") to leave his home. During the argument, Williams and his friend allegedly armed themselves with a totem pole and a garden hoe. In response, Gulpilil produced a machete.^[14]

Nobody was hurt in the altercation, but Gulpilil was charged with carrying an offensive weapon.

The defendant is an artist and a carver. He used the machete to carve didgeridoos, totem poles and strip stringy bark for paintings, [...] There is also evidence he used it to help him build shelters while out bush, like he had done shortly before arriving in Darwin.

— Magistrate Tanya Fong Lim^[15]

Domestic violence charges[]

On 30 March 2007, a Darwin magistrate imposed a 12-month domestic violence order against Gulpilil over an incident which took place against his wife on 28 December 2006. Gulpilil has been ordered not to "assault or threaten to assault Miriam Ashley directly or indirectly", and to stay away from her while drinking.^[16]

In December 2010, Gulpilil was charged with aggravated assault against Ashley, with the court hearing that he had thrown a broom at her, fracturing her arm. In September 2011, he was found guilty and sentenced to twelve months in prison.^[17]

Honours and awards[]

Australia Council for the Arts[]

The Australia Council for the Arts arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. Since 1993, it has awarded a Red Ochre Award. It it presented to an outstanding Indigenous Australian (Aboriginal Australian or Torres Strait Islander) artist for lifetime achievement.

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
2013	himself	Red Ochre Award	Awarded

Gulpilil was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1987.^[18] He was awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001.^[19]

He has twice received the AACTA/AFI Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, for The Tracker in 2002 and Charlie's Country in 2014. He was also nominated for this award in 1977 for Storm Boy. Gulpilil was nominated for the AFI Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Rabbit-Proof Fence in 2002.

He was nominated for the Helpmann Award for Best Male Actor in a Play in 2004 for the stage production Gulpilil.^[20] A portrait of Gulpilil by Craig Ruddy won the 2004 Archibald Prize, Australia's best-known art prize.^[21]

In May 2014, Gulpilil won a Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival for his performance in Rolf de Heer's film Charlie's Country. The award was in the Un Certain Regard section, a part of the festival that emphasises original, individual points of view and innovative film-making.^[22][23]

In 2019, Gulpilil was honoured with the lifetime achievement award^[24][25] at the 2019 NAIDOC Awards, and Premier’s Award for Lifetime Achievement in the South Australian Ruby Awards.^[26]

During The Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival at Winton, Queensland in 2021, Gulpilil was honoured with a star on Winton's Walk of Fame.^[27]

Filmography[]

Film[]

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1971	Walkabout	Black boy	Credited as David Gumpilil
1976	Mad Dog Morgan	Billy
	Storm Boy	Fingerbone Bill	Nominated—AACTA Award for Best Actor
1977	The Last Wave	Chris Lee
1983	The Right Stuff	Aborigine
1986	Crocodile Dundee	Neville Bell
1987	Dark Age	Adjaral
1988	Crocodile Dundee II	Neville Bell
1991	Until the End of the World	David
1996	Dead Heart	Second Man in Desert
2001	Serenades	Rainman
2002	The Tracker	The Tracker	AACTA Award for Best Actor Cinemanila International Film Festival Award for Best Actor FCCA Award for Best Actor Inside Film Award for Best Actor
	Rabbit-Proof Fence	Moodoo	Nominated—AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actor
2005	The Proposition	Jacko
2006	Ten Canoes	The Storyteller
2008	Australia	King George
2013	Satellite Boy	Jagamarra
2014	Charlie's Country	Charlie	AACTA Award for Best Actor AFCA Award for Best Actor AFCA Award for Best Screenplay Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard for Best Actor Nominated—AACTA Award for Best Original Screenplay (with Rolf de Heer) Nominated—Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Actor Nominated—Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard – Best Actor Nominated—FCCA Award for Best Actor Nominated—FCCA Award for Best Screenplay
2016	Goldstone	Jimmy
	Crazy Days at the Old Brumby Moon	Old Mick
2017	Cargo	Daku
2018	Storm Boy	Father of Fingerbone Bill
2021		Himself

Television[]

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1972	Boney	Balinga / Dancer / Tonto / David Ooldea
1974	Homicide	Gary Willis
1976	Rush	Satchel
1976	Luke's Kingdom	Aboriginal Boy
1977	The Outsiders	Billy Potter
1979	Skyways	Koiranah
1980	The Timeless Land	Colbee
1980	Young Ramsay	Aborigine
1989	Naked Under Capricorn	Activity
1995	The Man from Snowy River	Manulpuy
2000	BeastMaster	Shaman
2017	The Leftovers	Christopher Sunday

Special awards[]

Ruby Award South Australia 2019

• 2002: Living Legend Inside Film Award
• 2003: 2003 Adelaide Film Festival Don Dunstan Award

References[]

External links[]

• Official Website
• David Gulpilil at IMDb