At 16 years old, David Dalaithngu had already found success.
He was known as an excellent hunter, tracker and dancer amongst his clan, the Mandjalpingu of Arnhem Land.
It was these qualities that brought him to the attention of director Nicholas Roeg, who had gone to Maningrida to scout locations for his upcoming film 'Walkabout'.
Dalaithngu was cast in the movie, and his presence and charisma on screen led to instant recognition at home and abroad.
From there, as they say, the rest is history.
Take a look back at some of his most iconic roles
Walkabout (1971)
Miscredited in the movie as 'Gumpilil', David's natural presence on screen saw him become an overnight celebrity. Source: Getty Images
After an attempted murder by their father, two white children flee into the Australian outback. Quickly approaching death, they are found by an Aboriginal boy who assists them. His knowledge of the land helps them survive, and a complicated inter-cultural relationship develops as he guides them to safety.
Though his character was known only as 'Black Boy', and, like so many roles in films past, functioned only to help the white characters around him, Dalaithngu's performance garnered him fans at home and abroad.
The dancing and hunting skills for which he was initially selected are still remembered as iconic images from Australian cinema.
Storm Boy (1976)
![STORM BOY [AUS 1976] DAVID GULPILIL STORM BOY [AUS 1976] DAVID GULPILIL Date: 1976](https://sbs-au-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com/drupal/nitv/public/20091108000273727802-original.jpg?imwidth=1280)
A beloved classic of Australian cinema, 1976's Stormboy say Dalaithngu play Fingerbone Bill. Source: Mary Evans Picture Library
Bill becomes a friend and mentor to young Mike, a lonely and isolated boy living with his recluse father in South Australia's Coorong, near the mouth of the Murray River.
Bill names Mike 'Storm Boy', and together they care for three injured pelicans, before setting them free. One pelican returns of its own will, and is named Mr Percival. Mr Percival's death at the hands of duck hunters remains a traumatic film moment in the memories of many.
However, Bill uses the incident to teach Mike about the cycle of life, death and rebirth.
Dalaithngu was nominated at the 1976 AACTA Awards for Best Actor.
The Last Wave (1977)
![THE LAST WAVE [AUSTRALIA 1977] DAVID GULPILIL, RICHARD CHAMBERLAIN Date: 1977](https://sbs-au-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com/drupal/nitv/public/rsz_220091103000270349376-original.jpg?imwidth=1280)
Richard Chamberlain and David Dalaithngu in 1977's The Last Wave. Source: Mary Evans Picture Library
It tells the story of taxation lawyer David Burton, who, ignoring the strange circumstances that lead to his hiring, becomes involved in a murder trial.
Through the course of the trial, his personal and professional lives unravel, as the cosmic connections between him and the First Nations people accused of the murder become increasingly clear.
The film has a certain prescience, mixing environmental concerns with a prophetic vision of the end of times.
In a retrospective from 2014, the Guardian's Luke Buckmaster describes the movie's first courtroom scene with "David interrogating Chris about sacred sites and what it means to be tribal."
"It feels like an amalgamation of a wider search for meaning: the western world attempting – and failing – to rationalise ancient Aboriginal spirituality."
Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)
David Dalaithngu as Moodoo and Kenneth Branagh as A. O. Neville in a still from the movie 'Rabbit Proof Fence'. Source: BECKER ENTERTAINMENT
Dalaithngu plays Moodoo, the tracker, following the girls at the behest of A.O. Neville, the Protector of Western Australian Aborigines.
Advocacy for the Stolen Generations was a personal passion for the actor.
In the early 2000s he joined other Australian artists in calling for government recognition of, and compensation for, the suffering of the Stolen Generations.
The Tracker (2002)ImageThis period film, set in 1922, sees Dalaithngu in the title role. He's enlisted by three white (the Fanatic, the Follower, and the Veteran) men to help hunt down an Aboriginal man accused of murder. Bested by the landscape and always one step behind their quarry, the white men descend into fighting and even death, while the motives of the Tracker remain elusive. Dalaithngu was showered with accolades for his role in the film, written and directed by his longtime friend and collaborator Rolf de Heer. He won Best Actor at the AACTA Awards, the FCCA Awards, the Cinemanila International Film Festival and the Inside Film Awards.
Ten Canoes (2006)
David Dalaithngu poses for a photograph with his son Jamie Gulpilil during the film premiere of Ten Canoes at Her Majesty's Theatre in Adelaide, 2006 Source: AAP
Again working with Rolf de Heer, Dalaithngu does not physically appear in the film. But his presence is felt not only through the narration he provides but also in the appearance of his son Jamie Gulpilil as Dayindi, the central character.
The film is set at a time before the western invasion and celebrates the beauty of both the landscape and the cultures that thrive within it, while telling an epic tale of love, honour and retribution.
Ten Canoes won the Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.
A legacy of work
These are just six of Dalaithngu's many film appearances. Along with the indelible performances he displayed on the silver screen, he leaves behind a body of work, a cultural heritage, that makes our cinematic history and our identity as a nation all the richer.
