79-year-old revered Aboriginal actor, elder Uncle Jack Charles passes away

Charles is revered by many as the father of Indigenous theater and appeared in a number of notable Australian films over the course of a long career. His works also explored how trauma had caused him to spend years abusing drugs and engaging in criminal activity after being taken from his mom and dad as a baby and mistreated in state care.
 
Following a stroke, Charles passed away quietly on Tuesday in a hospital in Melbourne, according to his spokesperson.
They claimed in a statement that the Boon Wurrung, Dja Dja Wurrung, Woiwurrung, and Yorta Yorta elder had a “wonderful life.”   We are incredibly pleased of all that he has accomplished. He is an elder, actor, singer, potter, activist, mentor, well-known figure, and a voice that is well-liked by all. Anthony Albanese, the prime minister, said Charles “leave a bright legacy.”
 
  In 1971, Charles helped Melbourne become home to Australia’s first Aboriginal-run theater company. He has appeared in well-known Australian movies like Bedevil (1993), Blackfellas, and The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978). (1993). Charles, a participant of the Stolen Generations, was taken from his mother against her will at the age of four months as part of the now-famous programs intended to “assimilate” Aboriginal children into European homes.  
 
In 2008, previous Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologized openly to the Stolen Generations. Charles was sexually and physically assaulted during his earlier days in state custody.   He revealed to the BBC in 2019 how the tragedy of his early years caused him to spend the subsequent 50 years both inside and outside of prison.  
 
But when he was a young man, he realized that performing was his savior: “In a way, it saved me,” he said earlier this year during a Victorian inquiry.   On Tuesday, other young Indigenous artists who collaborated with him paid tribute. Charles was described by Adam Briggs as having a “warm, witty, and friendly nature.” He was “real royalty,” according to Nakkiah Lui, who said, “It was an honor to know you, work with you, and call you my uncle and friend.”  
 
Charles also became an advocate for Aboriginal prisoners in his senior years. In 2019, he stated, “I’ve become an actor since the age of 19, but I lost a lot of employment due to white drugs and jail time.” “I fervently wished that an Aboriginal elder like me would visit and nudge my conscience. “I’ve experienced life’s breaks; now I want to ensure that other young Indigenous children have theirs.” 
 
Charles was referred to as a “great Victorian” who “used his own personal suffering and the immense trauma that he had undergone in life to be a beacon for others, and to battle for justice,” according to state premier Daniel Andrews.