David Gulpilil

Acting

David Gulpilil

Born — Died

1953-07-01 — 2021-11-29

Place of birth

Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia

Known for

Acting

Credits

45 titles

David Gulpilil Ridjimiraril Dalaithngu AM, known professionally as David Gulpilil and posthumously for cultural reasons as David Dalaithngu for three days, was an Aboriginal Australian (Yolŋu) actor and dancer, known for the films Walkabout, Storm Boy, Rabbit-Proof Fence, and The Tracker.

Known for

The Leftovers poster
7.7

When 2% of the world's population abruptly disappears without explanation, the world struggles to understand just what they're supposed to do about it. This is the story of the people who didn't make the cut.

The Leftovers

2014

The Man from Snowy River poster
7.1

The Man from Snowy River is an Australian television series based on Banjo Paterson's poem "The Man from Snowy River". Released in Australia as Banjo Paterson's The Man from Snowy River, the series was subsequently released in both the United States and the United Kingdom as Snowy River: The McGregor Saga. The television series has no relationship to the 1982 film The Man from Snowy River or the 1988 sequel The Man from Snowy River II. Instead, the series follows the adventures of Matt McGregor, a successful squatter, and his family. Matt is the hero immortalized in Banjo Paterson's poem "The Man from Snowy River", and the series is set 25 years after his famous ride.

The Man from Snowy River

1994

BeastMaster poster
6.4

BeastMaster chronicles the adventures of Dar, the last surviving male of the storied Sula tribe, who is blessed with the ability to communicate telepathically with the animals of his ancient world. Also endowed with the strength, courage and fighting skills of a great warrior, he uses his gifts to defend all living creatures oppressed by the forces of evil.

BeastMaster

1999

Crocodile Dundee poster
6.5

When a New York reporter plucks crocodile hunter Mick Dundee from the Australian Outback for a visit to the Big Apple, it's a clash of cultures and a recipe for good-natured comedy as naïve Dundee negotiates the concrete jungle. He proves that his instincts are quite useful in the city and adeptly handles everything from wily muggers to high-society snoots without breaking a sweat.

Crocodile Dundee

1986

Australia poster
6.6

Set in northern Australia before World War II, an English aristocrat who inherits a sprawling ranch reluctantly pacts with a stock-man in order to protect her new property from a takeover plot. As the pair drive 2,000 head of cattle over unforgiving landscape, they experience the bombing of Darwin by Japanese forces firsthand.

Australia

2008

The Right Stuff poster
7.4

At the dawn of the Space Race, seven test pilots set out to become the first American astronauts to enter space. However, the road to making history brings momentous challenges.

The Right Stuff

1983

Film credits

2010s · 7 titles

Cargo poster
6.4

After being infected in the wake of a violent pandemic and with only 48 hours to live, a father struggles to find a new home for his baby daughter.

Cargo

2017

Storm Boy poster
7.1

Storm Boy lives a lonely life with his reclusive father on a desolate coastline, but when he forms a close bond with a pelican, Mr. Percival, his life takes a new and unexpected turn.

Storm Boy

2019

Goldstone poster
6.0

Indigenous Detective Jay Swan arrives in the frontier town of Goldstone on a missing persons inquiry. What seems like a simple investigation unearths an intricate web of crime, corruption, human trafficking, and coordinated exploitation of indigenous people’s land. Jay must bury his differences with young local cop Josh, so together they can bring justice to Goldstone.

Goldstone

2016

Charlie's Country poster
7.0

Blackfella Charlie is getting older, and he's out of sorts. The intervention is making life more difficult on his remote community, what with the proper policing of whitefella laws that don't generally make much sense, and Charlie's kin and ken seeming more interested in going along with things than doing anything about it. So Charlie takes off, to live the old way, but in doing so sets off a chain of events in his life that has him return to his community chastened, and somewhat the wiser.

Charlie's Country

2013

Another Country poster
6.0

In this documentary companion to CHARLIE'S COUNTRY, Australian actor David Gulpilil tells the story of when his people's way of life was derailed by ours.

Another Country

2015

Satellite Boy poster
6.0

When his grandfather's drive-in cinema and home in the outback town of Wyndham is threatened with demolition, a twelve-year-old Aboriginal boy must journey through Australia's bush country — equipped only with ancient survival skills — to stop the city developers.

Satellite Boy

2012

MESSiAH poster
NR

In a playful collision of cultures, a hapless Irishman and his Parisian girlfriend get more than they bargained for when they encounter a particularly mischievous stranger in the spectacular Australian wilderness.

MESSiAH

2016

2000s · 10 titles

Australia poster
6.6

Set in northern Australia before World War II, an English aristocrat who inherits a sprawling ranch reluctantly pacts with a stock-man in order to protect her new property from a takeover plot. As the pair drive 2,000 head of cattle over unforgiving landscape, they experience the bombing of Darwin by Japanese forces firsthand.

Australia

2008

Rabbit-Proof Fence poster
7.0

In 1931, three Aboriginal girls escape after being plucked from their homes to be trained as domestic staff, and set off on a trek across the Outback.

Rabbit-Proof Fence

2002

The Proposition poster
7.0

In 1880s Australia, a lawman offers renegade Charlie Burns a difficult choice. In order to save his younger brother from the gallows, Charlie must hunt down and kill his older brother, who is wanted for rape and murder. Venturing into one of the Outback's most inhospitable regions, Charlie faces a terrible moral dilemma that can end only in violence.

The Proposition

2005

Ten Canoes poster
6.8

A story within a story within a story. In Australia's Northern Territory, an Aboriginal narrator tells a story about his ancestors on a goose hunt. A youngster on the hunt is being tempted to adultery with his elder brother's wife, so an elder tells him a story from the mythical past about how evil can slip in and cause havoc unless prevented by virtue according to customary tribal law.

Ten Canoes

2006

The Tracker poster
6.8

Somewhere in Australia in the early 20th century outback, an Aboriginal man is accused of murdering a white woman. Three white men are on a mission to capture him with the help of an experienced Indigenous man.

The Tracker

2002

No artwork available
8.0

This documentary follows Phillip Noyce as he tries to find three aboriginal girls able to act in his film Rabbit Proof Fence. The film sees a cast of 100's whittled down to the eventual three girls and follows them through workshops and into the difficult shoot.

Following the Rabbit-Proof Fence

2003

Gulpilil: One Red Blood poster
6.8

An hour-long documentary on the life and career of actor David Gulpilil.

Gulpilil: One Red Blood

2002

Crocodile Dreaming poster
NR

Crocodile Dreaming is a modern day supernatural myth about two estranged brothers, played by iconic Indigenous actors David Gulpill and Tom E. Lewis. Separated at birth, they have different fathers. One is readily accepted as a full-fledged member of the tribe and is looked on to fulfill the duties of jungaiy, an important ceremonial role which obliges him to be caretaker for his mother's dreaming, the crocodile totem. The other, whose father was white, is younger and has had to struggle to fit into the tribe who see him only as a yella fella.

Crocodile Dreaming

2006

Mimi poster
5.5

A white collector of Aboriginal art gets a shock when the Mimi sculpture she purchased comes to life.

Mimi

2002

Serenades poster
5.4

Set in the 1890s in the central desert region of Australia, 'Serenades' tells the tale of Jila who is conceived when her Afghan cameleer father wins her Aboriginal mother in a card game.

Serenades

2001

1990s · 2 titles

1980s · 4 titles

Crocodile Dundee poster
6.5

When a New York reporter plucks crocodile hunter Mick Dundee from the Australian Outback for a visit to the Big Apple, it's a clash of cultures and a recipe for good-natured comedy as naïve Dundee negotiates the concrete jungle. He proves that his instincts are quite useful in the city and adeptly handles everything from wily muggers to high-society snoots without breaking a sweat.

Crocodile Dundee

1986

The Right Stuff poster
7.4

At the dawn of the Space Race, seven test pilots set out to become the first American astronauts to enter space. However, the road to making history brings momentous challenges.

The Right Stuff

1983

Dark Age poster
5.7

In the Australian outback, a park ranger and two local guides set out to track down a giant crocodile that has been killing and eating the local populace..

Dark Age

1987

Walkabout to Hollywood poster
NR

Produced and directed this documentary for BBC in the 1980’s, about David Gulpilil, acclaimed Australian Aboriginal actor, dancer and musician. The film shows how Gulpilil is always working to bridge the gap between the tribal Aboriginal and Western worlds. He divides his time between a traditional tribal lifestyle and his artistic work, which has included major film roles, collaboration with contemporary dance and music groups and teaching Aboriginal dance and culture. Bill and David travel to Hollywood where David was the most popular Australian in the world at that time, with FOUR films playing in America – WALKABOUT, STORM BOY, THE LAST WAVE and MAD DOG MORGAN. After relating to both the black and native American cultures and filming a quick scene for a big Hollywood picture, he pines to head back through the Outback to his beloved Arnhem Land. Edited by Simon Dibbs and shot by Ray Henman.

Walkabout to Hollywood

1980

1970s · 10 titles

Walkabout poster
7.3

Under the pretense of having a picnic, a geologist takes his teenage daughter and 6-year-old son into the Australian outback and attempts to shoot them. When he fails, he turns the gun on himself, and the two city-bred children must contend with harsh wilderness alone. They are saved by a chance encounter with an Aboriginal boy who shows them how to survive, and in the process underscores the disharmony between nature and modern life.

Walkabout

1971

The Last Wave poster
6.7

A Sydney lawyer defends five Aboriginal people in a ritualised taboo murder and in the process learns disturbing truths about himself and premonitions.

The Last Wave

1977

Mad Dog Morgan poster
5.9

The true story of Irish outlaw Daniel Morgan, who is wanted, dead or alive, in Australia during the 1850s.

Mad Dog Morgan

1976

Storm Boy poster
6.9

Mike is a lonely Australian boy living in a coastal wilderness with his reclusive father. In search of friendship he encounters an Aboriginal native loner and the two form a bond in the care of orphaned pelicans.

Storm Boy

1977

To Shoot a Mad Dog poster
7.0

A documentary about the making of the Australian feature Mad Dog Morgan (1976).

To Shoot a Mad Dog

1976

Walya Ngamardiki: The Land My Mother poster
NR

Exploring the relationship between Aboriginal people and their land (including the Dreaming, sacred places), this film was inspired by Silas Roberts’ submission to the 1976 Australian Government inquiry on uranium mining - the Ranger Uranium Environmental Inquiry. Silas, whose tribal name is Ngourladi, is an elder of the Allawa clan and was the first chairman of the Northern Land Council, established to assist Aboriginal people make land rights claims based on traditional ownership. The film, which moves from Arnhem Land in the north to Yuendumu in the centre, examines the importance of maintaining Aboriginal culture and laws and explains the reasons why they object to the mining being carried out.

Walya Ngamardiki: The Land My Mother

1978

No artwork available
NR

A timeless classic from the Dreamtime. there are innumerable names and stories associated with the Rainbow Serpent, all of which communicate the significance of this being within Aboriginal traditions.

The Rainbow Serpent

1975

No artwork available
NR

Annihilation of the Aborigines of Tasmania.

No Bag Limit

1973

No artwork available
NR

David Gulpilil performs three Aboriginal dances, Emu, Kangaroo and Fish. The first two are solo performances by Gulpilil and are closer to mime than dance. The third is a group dance with some of the children from Bamyili where Gulpilil lives in the Northern Territory.

3 Dances Gulpilil

1978

No artwork available
NR

In 1973, fresh from his performance in Walkabout, a film that brought outback landscapes to urban audiences, Gulpilil returned the favour by paying a visit to Melbourne with camera in hand, shooting a wry fly-on-the-wall documentary that compares the sights and sounds of the city to those of his home in Arnhem Land.

Showing Melbourne to Maningrida

1973

Series credits

The Leftovers poster
7.7

When 2% of the world's population abruptly disappears without explanation, the world struggles to understand just what they're supposed to do about it. This is the story of the people who didn't make the cut.

The Leftovers

2014

The Man from Snowy River poster
7.1

The Man from Snowy River is an Australian television series based on Banjo Paterson's poem "The Man from Snowy River". Released in Australia as Banjo Paterson's The Man from Snowy River, the series was subsequently released in both the United States and the United Kingdom as Snowy River: The McGregor Saga. The television series has no relationship to the 1982 film The Man from Snowy River or the 1988 sequel The Man from Snowy River II. Instead, the series follows the adventures of Matt McGregor, a successful squatter, and his family. Matt is the hero immortalized in Banjo Paterson's poem "The Man from Snowy River", and the series is set 25 years after his famous ride.

The Man from Snowy River

1994

BeastMaster poster
6.4

BeastMaster chronicles the adventures of Dar, the last surviving male of the storied Sula tribe, who is blessed with the ability to communicate telepathically with the animals of his ancient world. Also endowed with the strength, courage and fighting skills of a great warrior, he uses his gifts to defend all living creatures oppressed by the forces of evil.

BeastMaster

1999

Faraway Downs poster
6.9

The story of an English aristocrat, Lady Sarah Ashley, who inherits a large cattle ranch in Australia after her husband dies. When Australian cattle barons plot to take her land, she joins forces with a cattle drover to protect her ranch.

Faraway Downs

2023

Behind the camera

Charlie's Country poster
7.0

Blackfella Charlie is getting older, and he's out of sorts. The intervention is making life more difficult on his remote community, what with the proper policing of whitefella laws that don't generally make much sense, and Charlie's kin and ken seeming more interested in going along with things than doing anything about it. So Charlie takes off, to live the old way, but in doing so sets off a chain of events in his life that has him return to his community chastened, and somewhat the wiser.

Charlie's Country

2013

My Name Is Gulpilil poster
6.6

Diagnosed with lung cancer, legendary Australian actor David Gulpilil boldly explains the journey that is his extraordinary, culture-clashing life.

My Name Is Gulpilil

2021

Another Country poster
6.0

In this documentary companion to CHARLIE'S COUNTRY, Australian actor David Gulpilil tells the story of when his people's way of life was derailed by ours.

Another Country

2015

No artwork available
NR

In 1973, fresh from his performance in Walkabout, a film that brought outback landscapes to urban audiences, Gulpilil returned the favour by paying a visit to Melbourne with camera in hand, shooting a wry fly-on-the-wall documentary that compares the sights and sounds of the city to those of his home in Arnhem Land.

Showing Melbourne to Maningrida

1973

No artwork available
NR

In 1973, fresh from his performance in Walkabout, a film that brought outback landscapes to urban audiences, Gulpilil returned the favour by paying a visit to Melbourne with camera in hand, shooting a wry fly-on-the-wall documentary that compares the sights and sounds of the city to those of his home in Arnhem Land.

Showing Melbourne to Maningrida

1973