David Gulpilil, the legendary Australian actor from ‘My Captain Friend’, dies

Australian Aboriginal actor, David Gulpilil, died this Monday at the age of 67 due to a lung cancer that he was diagnosed in 2017. That same year he released the last film in which he has participated and which, precisely, is a documentary about his life, ‘My name is gulpilil‘.

The news has been confirmed via Twitter by Steven Marshall, Prime Minister of South Australia, who has lamented the loss of a “Iconic artist, one of a kind, who shaped the history of Australian cinema and Aboriginal on-screen representation”.

It is with deep sadness that I share the passing of an iconic, once-in-a-generation artist who shaped the history of Australian film and Aboriginal representation on screen – David Dalaithngu AM.

My thoughts are with his family, and his dear friend and carer Mary Hood.

Vale. pic.twitter.com/jFcncuYpRm

— Steven Marshall, MP (@marshall_steven) November 29, 2021

Director Nicolas Roeg gave him the first professional opportunity in the film world with ‘Walkabout‘, which gave him great recognition worldwide.

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Later, he also participated in other films such as’Mad Morgan‘, ‘My captain friend‘ and ‘The last wave‘. The documentary ‘Ten canoes‘, the first to be shot in the Australian Aboriginal language. Gulpilil was the scriptwriter and the project was awarded at the Cannes Film Festival in the section ‘A certain look’.