Jack Charles

"Jack Charles (5 September 1943 – 13 September 2022), also known as Uncle Jack Charles, was an Australian stage and screen actor and activist, known for his advocacy for Aboriginal people. He was involved in establishing the first Indigenous theatre in Australia, co-founding Nindethana Theatre with Bob Maza in Melbourne in 1971. His film credits include the Australian film The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978), among others, and more recently appeared in TV series Cleverman (2016) and Preppers (2021). He spent many decades in and out of prison and as a heroin addict, which he ascribed largely to trauma that he experienced as a child, as one of the Stolen Generations. In later life he became a mentor for Aboriginal youth in the prison system along with musician Archie Roach, and was revered as an elder. As a gay man, Charles was considered a gay icon and role model for LGBTQI+ Indigenous youth. Among other awards and honours, he was Victorian Senior Australian of the Year in 2015, and Male Elder of the Year in the 2022 National NAIDOC Week Awards. Jack Charles was born on 5 September 1943 at the Royal Women's Hospital, Carlton, in Melbourne, Victoria, to a Bunurong mother, Blanche, who was 15 years old at the time, and Wiradjuri father. Charles' great-great-grandfather was a Djadjawurrung man, among the activists who resisted government policy at the Coranderrk reserve in Victoria in 1881. Charles was a victim of the Australian Government's forced assimilation program which took him from his mother as an infant, and which produced what is known as the Stolen Generations. He tells how his mother sneaked out of the Royal Women's Hospital and took him to a "blakfella camp" near Shepparton and Mooroopna (Daish's Paddock), but the authorities came and took him when he was four months old. After being moved to the Melbourne City Mission in Brunswick, Charles was raised in the Salvation Army Boys' Home at Box Hill, suburban Melbourne, where he was the only Aboriginal child, and suffered sexual and physical abuse "far worse than anything [he] later experienced in prison". He was not told that he was Aboriginal, and thought he was an orphan until he later discovered the existence of his still living mother. At the age of 14, he was taken into the care of a foster mother, Mrs Murphy, who treated him well, but was taken away again at the age of 17. Charles started acting at the age of 19. In 1971 he co-founded Nindethana Theatre with Bob Maza. He appeared in several films such as The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978), Bedevil (1993) and Blackfellas (1993). He also appeared in TV shows such as Cleverman (2016), Wolf Creek (2016), Mystery Road (2018) and Play School (2019). He performed his autobiographical play Jack Charles V The Crown in Australia and internationally. He also wrote a memoir titled Born-Again Blakfella in 2019. Charles struggled with heroin addiction and petty crime for many years. He spent time in various prisons and rehabilitation centres. He attributed his addiction to the trauma of being taken from his family and abused as a child. He also faced discrimination and racism as an Aboriginal person. He became clean from drugs in 2008 after participating in a documentary called Bastardy that followed his life for seven years. He then became an advocate for Aboriginal prisoners and justice reform. He visited prisons to mentor and support Aboriginal inmates. He also campaigned for the return of Aboriginal ancestral remains from overseas museums. Charles was openly gay and proud of his sexuality. He had a five-year relationship with Jack Huston, whom he met at the New Theatre in the 1970s. He also had other partners throughout his life. He did not have any children of his own, but he considered himself an uncle to many young Aboriginal people. He was a respected and cherished elder in the Aboriginal community. He was also a musician and a potter. Charles died peacefully on 13 September 2022 at the Royal Melbourne Hospital after suffering a stroke. He was surrounded by his family and friends. He was honoured with a state funeral on 18 October 2022 at Hamer Hall in Melbourne. His funeral was live-streamed to prisons across Victoria. He was buried at the Melbourne General Cemetery in Parkville."