What Happened To Jack Charles? How Did Jack Charles Die?

Jack Charles died from a stroke on September 13, 2022, at age 79 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Jack Charles was an Aboriginal Australian stage and screen actor, musician, potter, and elder.

Born in 1943, Charles started his acting career in theatre in 1970. The director of the New Theatre in Melbourne, Dot Thompson, cast him in Athol Fugard’s The Blood Knot, which was followed by a non-Aboriginal role in Rod Milgate’s A Refined Look at Existence.

Charles was later involved in establishing the first Indigenous theatre in Australia, co-founding, with Bob Maza, Nindethana Theatre in 1971.

His film credits include the landmark Australian film The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978), among others, and more recently appeared in the TV series Cleverman (2016) and Preppers (2021).

Charles received a Lifetime Achievement award from Victoria’s Green Room Awards in April 2014, the first Indigenous recipient.

He was also honoured by the Victorian Government, in 2015, in the category “Victorian Senior Australian of the Year”.

Charles was often referred to as Uncle Jack or Uncle Jack Charles, a mark of respect that often goes with the status of an Aboriginal Australian elder.