SYDNEY: Tributes have flowed for Aboriginal actor David Ngoombujarra who died on the weekend, with Hollywood star Hugh Jackman describing him as “an extraordinary man”.
Ngoombujarra, 44, had starred in several iconic Australian films including “Rabbit-Proof Fence” and the Baz Luhrmann directed 2008 feature “Australia”with Nicole Kidman.
He was found in a park in Fremantle, Western Australia, on Sunday and later pronounced dead in hospital. Police are awaiting a toxicology report to pinpoint the cause of death but are not treating it as suspicious.
Jackman, who co-starred with Ngoombujarra in “Australia”, tweeted of “an extraordinary man, actor and friend.””His laugh, warmth and humanity will live on with all who knew him,” he said.
Luhrmann told The Australian newspaper that Ngoombujarra had an “extraordinary spirit, life force and creativity” which lifted spirits during the many months of shooting “Australia”.
Indigenous actor and presenter Ernie Dingo, who co-starred with Ngoombujarra in an ABC television series, described his friend as a man who was “always in touch with his culture, wherever he was”.
“Very sadly, he was lost between two cultures,” he said.
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