With the death of Aboriginal actor and musician Uncle Jack Charles, Australia has lost a stage and screen icon.
NOTE: This story uses Uncle Jack Charles's name and image with the permission of his family.
The Boon Wurrung, Dja Dja Wurrung, Woiwurrung and Yorta Yorta man died at age 79, surrounded by his family at the Royal Melbourne Hospital after suffering a stroke.
A statement from his publicist listed the many achievements of his life, adding the revered actor "will live on in our hearts and memories and through his numerous screen and stage roles".
Here's where you can watch some of Uncle Jack's best known and most recent work, including on ABC iview and other streaming services.
The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, 1978
This 1978 Australian drama film, based on the real-life story of Aboriginal outlaw Jimmy Governor, features Uncle Jack in the role of Harry Edwards, a victim of shocking police brutality after the title character helps a white police officer track him down.
A hit with critics, but commercially unsuccessful, copies of the film were briefly confiscated in the United Kingdom in the early 1980s under the Obscene Publications Act.
It's currently streaming on Amazon Prime.
Blackfellas, 1993
Uncle Jack plays the role of Carey in this celebrated Australian drama, an adaptation of Archie Weller's novel The Day of the Dog which also starred John Moore, David Ngoombujarra and Ernie Dingo.
The film follows the story of Doug Dooligan, a young Nyoongar man struggling to stay out of trouble as he relocates to a remote Aboriginal community in Western Australia following his release from prison.
Blackfellas is available to rent on Australian streaming channel Beamafilm.
Bastardy, 2008
A frank and fearless documentary from director Amiel Courtin-Wilson, Bastardy paints an uncompromising picture of Uncle Jack's life over seven years in the early 2000s, exploring how childhood trauma from the Stolen Generations and sexual abuse in the years that followed led to stints of homelessness and drug addiction later in life.
It's available on Amazon Prime, as well as documentary streaming service Docplay.
Mystery Road, 2013
Aboriginal "cowboy detective" Jay Swan returns to his home town to investigate the murder of a teenage girl in this 2013 Australian thriller, which later became a TV series of the same name.
Joining a stellar Australian cast including Hugo Weaving and Roy Billing, Uncle Jack plays the role of Jay's eccentric uncle, Old Boy, who clues him in to the goings-on around town.
You can watch the 2013 film on Stan.
Cleverman, 2016
This six-part sci-fi series starring Hunter Page-Lochard and featuring A.B. Original's Briggs re-imagines stories from the Dreamtime, setting them in a near-future dystopian setting and using them to explore modern-day issues like racism and Australia's treatment of asylum seekers.
Uncle Jack plays the titular Cleverman at the series' outset, portraying the character as a combination of similar traditions from different Aboriginal cultures. He later returns as a ghost to train his successor.
Cleverman is currently available on Stan.
Anh's Brush with Fame, 2017
Uncle Jack is a natural fit for Anh Do's portrait-painting series, with his character-filled face and raw honesty providing the ideal subject for both portrait and interview.
In addition to speaking about his early life and career, he goes into detail about his later-life work with Aboriginal inmates, relishing the opportunity to reach out to them and offer them "words I would have loved to have somebody come in and say to me".
Preppers, 2021
Co-created by playwright and comedian Nakkiah Lui, this darkly comic take on Aboriginal identity and doomsday prepping saw Uncle Jack take on the role of Monty, the wise yet cheekily entrepreneurial founder of survival community Eden 2.
You can watch it on ABC iview here.
Who Do You Think You Are? 2021
Uncle Jack took a journey of self-discovery on SBS's Who Do You Think You Are? last year, delving into a past that Australia's government tried to take from him as a member of the Stolen Generations and discovering the identity of his father as well as ties to many Aboriginal nations across Victoria and Tasmania.
"I'm not a fatherless child. I'm not a bastard anymore," he says after visiting his father's grave.
See the episode on SBS on Demand.
Visit ABC iview and the ABC listen app to explore collections celebrating the work of Uncle Jack Charles, including his appearances on Conversations and Speaking Out.
