Aboriginal elder, author and activist Uncle Jack Charles dies aged 79

JACK CHARLES: Hello, My name’s Jack Charles. I’m an actor, elder statesman extraordinaire and I’m here to have a talk with you.

PETER MCCUTCHEON, REPOTER: It’s a distinctive, unforgettable voice that was first heard on stage in the late 1960s.

(Excerpt from ‘Jack Charles is Up and Fighting’ 1972)

PETER MCCUTCHEON: Uncle Jack Charles founded Australia’s first black theatre company with the late Bob Maza and went on to become a familiar face on screen.

(Excerpt from ‘Rush’ 1976)

JACK CHARLES: We’re 200 light years behind the Americas in employing Indigenous people in the arts but they’re coming through now.

This is legacy Bob Maza and I have left – that’s what we’ve done.

PETER MCCUTCHEON: But for decades Uncle Jack struggled to come to terms with his troubled past. Taken from you his young Aboriginal mother when he was baby, he was later abused at a Salvation Army boys home in Melbourne.

(Excerpt from ‘Jack Charles Versus the Crown’ 2010)

PETER MCCUTCHEON: He served multiple jail terms for stealing to support a heroin addiction – all while pursuing a career in theatre.

On one occasion the people he was stealing from recognised Uncle Jack from the stage.

JACK CHARLES (Compass 2014): They said, “Alright Jack we’re not going to call the police but please don’t rob us again,” and I never did.

(Excerpt from ‘Jack Charles Versus the Crown’ 2010)

PETER MCCUTCHEON: After overcoming his drug addiction, Uncle Jack launched a one-man autobiographical show – Jack Charles Versus the Crown.

(Excerpt from ‘Jack Charles Versus the Crown’ 2010)

(Excerpt from ‘Clever Man’ 2016)

PETER MCCUTCHEON: As his profile grew over the past decade – so did Uncle Jack’s sense of purpose.

He was the first Indigenous elder to give evidence at Victoria’s Truth Telling Commission in April.

JACK CHARLES: As a members of the Stolen Generation, we need an accounting of ourselves, get it recorded.

It’s a unique position to get up there in front of commissioners and start talking. I’ve had experience though you see.

PETER MCCUTCHEON: Two month ago Uncle Jack was honoured as NAIDOC’s male elder of the year.

JACK CHARLES, NAIDOC: Treading the boards, fronting the camera, and waggling the finger and stamping the foot and pointing the bone at irresponsible behaviour, it’s the role of an elder in my unique position.

PETER MCCUTCHEON: Uncle Jack last spoke to 7.30 in 2020 – at the height of the COVID pandemic.

JACK CHARLES (7.30 – 2020): I do reflect on the possibilities that are ahead of us, the things that we’ve been unable to do.

We’re on the road to engaging with parliament, engaging with the prison industry etc to make a bold difference.

That’s where I’m at now – waiting in the wings.