Australia mourns passing of renowned Aboriginal Australian actor

0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Xinhua, November 30, 2021
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SYDNEY, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- Aboriginal Australian artist and film great David Dalaithngu passed away overnight at the age of 68, four years after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

Dalaithngu was from the Aboriginal Yolngu people and was born and raised in an Aboriginal community in Arnhem Land in Australia's Northern Territory.

Throughout a career of more than 50 years, Dalaithngu took an intuitive approach to acting, and appeared in a number of iconic Australian films including Walkabout, Crocodile Dundee, Rabbit-Proof Fence, and Australia.

Among his many accolades, Dalaithngu was awarded the NAIDOC (National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee) lifetime achievement award in 2019, which recognizes the long-term achievements and contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Following Aboriginal cultural practices, his family requested that he would henceforth be referred to as Dalaithngu, although he was known by another surname during his lifetime.

Dalaithngu's peers and numerous Australian figureheads mourned the news on Tuesday.

"I was saddened to learn overnight that we have lost a giant of the screen, and a legend of the Yolngu people, David Dalaithngu," said Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt.

Australian actor Hugh Jackman acknowledged Dalaithngu's "immeasurable" contribution to film in Australia.

"I join all Australians, and the world over, in mourning the loss of David Gulpilil Ridjimiraril Dalaithngu... His humanity is irreplaceable," wrote Jackman on Instagram. Enditem

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