David Ngoombujarra (27 June 1967 – 17 July 2011) was an

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

actor of the

Yamatji Yamatji (or Yamaji) is a Wajarri word that has at least three different meanings: * a member of the Watjarri people * any Aboriginal Australian person from the Murchison region of Western Australia * any group made up of members of different I ...

people. Born David Bernard Starr in

Meekatharra, Western Australia Meekatharra is a town in the Mid West (Western Australia), Mid West region of Western Australia. Meekatharra is a Yamatji word meaning "place of little water". At the 2016 Australian census, 2016 census, Meekatharra had a population of 708, wit ...

, his acting career spanned over two decades from the 1980s to 2010; he won three Australian Film Institute Awards. On 17 July 2011 he was found in a park in Fremantle, and taken to Fremantle Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Personal life

Ngoombujarra was adopted by Amy and Derek Sloan, and met his birth mother when he was 14. He moved to Sydney with plans for stardom and picked up some minor film roles in ''

Young Einstein ''Young Einstein'' is a 1988 Australian comedy film written, produced, directed by and starring Yahoo Serious. It is a fantasized account of the life of Albert Einstein which alters all people, places and circumstances of his life, including r ...

'' and others after being spotted busking in Circular Quay. His wide smile and booming laugh were very marketable. Ngoombujarra fell into petty crime and battled alcohol addiction which may have contributed to his death. It was revealed that Ngoombujara fathered a daughter who was later adopted by his cousin, actor Ernie Dingo.

Filmography

Awards

AFI AFI may refer to: * ''Address-family identifier'', a 16 bit field of the Routing Information Protocol * Ashton Fletcher Irwin, an Australian drummer * AFI (band), an American rock band ** ''AFI'' (2004 album), a retrospective album by AFI rele ...

Best Supporting Actor in Television Drama for ''The Circuit'' (2007) * AFI Best Actor in a Supporting Role for ''Black and White'' (2002) * AFI Best Actor in a Supporting Role for ''Day of the Dog'' (1993)

References

External links

* 1967 births 2011 deaths AACTA Award winners Australian male film actors Indigenous Australian male actors People from Meekatharra, Western Australia {{Australia-film-actor-stub