Charlbi Dean Kriek ( ; 5 February 1990 – 29 August 2022) was a South African model and actress. She was best known for her roles in the ''

Spud Spud is a common nickname for the potato. Spud(s) may also refer to: People * Spud (nickname), a list of people nicknamed "Spud" or "Spuds" * Spud Murphy (1908–2005), American jazz musician, bandleader and arranger Lyle Stephanovic * Rocksta ...

'' films (2010–2013), the superhero drama series ''

Black Lightning Black Lightning (Jefferson Michael "Jeff" Pierce) is a superhero who appears in American comic book published by DC Comics. The character, created by writer Jenny Blake Isabella with artist Trevor Von Eeden, first appeared in ''Black Lightning'' ...

'' (2018) and the

Palme d'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...

-winning dark comedy ''

Triangle of Sadness ''Triangle of Sadness'' is a 2022 satirical black comedy film written and directed by Ruben Östlund in his English-language feature debut. The film stars an ensemble cast led by Harris Dickinson, Charlbi Dean (in her final film role), Dolly ...

'' (2022).

Early life and career

Dean was born on 5 February 1990 to Joanne Muller and Johan Kriek. She had a brother. She began modelling at the age of six, appearing in commercials and catalogues. She signed with Alfa Model Management when she was 12 and was

homeschooled Homeschooling or home schooling (American English), also known as home education or elective home education (EHE) (British English), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted ...

from the age of 14. She attended Waterfront Theatre School in her hometown of

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, traveling widely for her career. In October 2008, Dean and another model survived a car crash. Her injuries included a broken wrist, four broken ribs, and a collapsed lung. She was hospitalised at

Milnerton Milnerton is a seaside town on Table Bay and is located north of Cape Town in South Africa. It is located 11 kilometres to the north of the city's centre. Geography Milnerton lies on the Western Seaboard of Cape Town, also known as the Blaau ...

Medi-Clinic and received life-saving surgery. She took a break from her career after the accident. In 2010, Dean made her acting debut in the film adaptation of ''

'' as Amanda, a role she reprised in the sequel '' Spud 2: The Madness Continues''. She went on to star in the films '' Don't Sleep'' in 2017 and ''

An Interview with God ''An Interview with God'' is a 2018 drama film directed by Perry Lang and written by Ken Aguado. The film stars David Strathairn, Brenton Thwaites, Yael Grobglas, Hill Harper and Charlbi Dean. Premise Paul Asher (Brenton Thwaites) is a journa ...

'' in 2018. Also in 2018, she landed the role of

Syonide Sabbac Vic Sage Salem the Witch Girl Salem the Witch Girl (Salem Nader) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She is the sidekick and apprentice of the original Doctor Fate (Kent Nelson), Doctor ...

, a recurring character she played for two seasons of the

Arrowverse The Arrowverse is an American Superhero fiction, superhero media franchise and shared universe that is centered on various interconnected television series based on DC Comics superhero characters, primarily airing on The CW as well as web series ...

series ''

''. In February 2020, she was cast in a leading role in

Ruben Östlund Ruben Östlund () (born 13 April 1974) is a Swedish filmmaker best known for his satirical black comedy films '' Force Majeure'' (2014), '' The Square'' (2017) and '' Triangle of Sadness'' (2022). He is the recipient of various accolades, includi ...

's satirical film ''

'', which premiered at the

2022 Cannes Film Festival The 75th annual Cannes Film Festival is a film festival that took place from 17 to 28 May 2022. French actor Vincent Lindon served as jury president for the main competition. French actress Virginie Efira hosted the opening and closing ceremon ...

and won the

. Her performance in the film received critical praise, with some considering it as what could have been her

breakout role A breakthrough role, also known as a breakout role, is a term in the theatre, film and television industry to describe the performance of an actor or actress which contributed significantly to the development of their career and beginning of crit ...

Personal life

Dean was engaged to fellow South African actor and model Luke Volker, whom she had been dating since 2018.

Death

On 29 August 2022, Dean was admitted to a hospital in New York City after feeling unwell. While her initial symptoms were mild, her condition deteriorated rapidly and she died several hours later; she was 32. Autopsy results released on 21 December 2022 confirmed the actress died of bacterial

sepsis Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage of sepsis is followed by suppression of the immune system. Common signs and s ...

, which was caused by '' Capnocytophaga''. Her spleen had been removed after a car crash in 2008, which increased her risk of serious infections. Dean's death occurred shortly before the international release of ''Triangle of Sadness''.

Peter Bradshaw Peter Nicholas Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire'' magazine. Early life and education Bradshaw was educat ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' wrote that she "was a true star-in-the-making. Her loss is a huge one... hehad a singular style and enormous promise". Despite appearing in a lead role of an

Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards (also known as Oscars) presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film a ...

nominee at the 2023 Oscar ceremony, Dean was not included in that same ceremony's "In Memoriam" tribute.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

Charlbi Dean
at

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dean, Charlbi 1990 births 2022 deaths Afrikaner people 21st-century South African actresses Actresses from Cape Town Child models Deaths from sepsis IMG Models models Next Management models South African female models South African film actresses South African television actresses Infectious disease deaths in New York (state)