BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY :AFRO-AUSTRALIAN " ROBERT TUDAWALI " WAS AN AUSTRALIAN ACTOR, AND BECAME THE FIRST BLACK AUSTRALIAN FILM STAR : GOES INTO THE " HALL OF BLACK HEROES "

               BLACK   SOCIAL   HISTORY                                                                                                                                                                                                  

 Robert Tudawali

Robert Tudawali
Tudawali at the Bagot Native Settlement in 1960
Born	Robert Tudawali 1929 Melville Island, Northern Territory
Died	July 1967 (aged 37–38) Darwin, Northern Territory
Cause of death	Severe burns and tuberculosis[1]
Resting place	Darwin cemetery

Robert Tudawali (1929–1967) was an Australian actor, born and raised on Melville Island in the Northern Territory.^[1] He became the first Aboriginal film star as a result of playing the lead role, Marbuck, in Jedda.

A leading Australian rules footballer as a youth, he alternated several times between Aboriginal and white society. Tudawali used the name Bobby Wilson in Darwin. Under this name he took part in the TV series Whiplash.

Tudawali also served as Vice-President of the Northern Territory Council for Aboriginal Rights, and, working with trade unionists and author Frank Hardy, fought to highlight the poor wages and conditions of Aboriginal stockmen in the Northern Territory, which culminated in the Wave Hill walk off in 1966.^[2] Tudawali had organised to give a series of talks to unionists throughout Australia in support of the stockmen when the Northern Territory administration banned any travel by Tudawali due to the tuberculosis he was suffering at the time.^[2]

Tudawali died of severe burns on 26 July 1967 following an incident on Bagot community, Darwin.^[1]

Tudawali

Tudawali
Directed by	Steve Jodrell
Produced by	Paul Barron Julia Overton
Written by	Alan Seymour David Rapsey
Starring	Ernie Dingo Peter Fisher Frank Wilson Charles Tingwell Suzanne Peveril Bill McCluskey Michelle Torres
Cinematography	Michael Edols
Production company	SBS-Barron Films
Distributed by	SBS
Release dates	28 January 1988
Country	Australia
Language	English
Budget	$750,000.[3]

In 1987, Steve Jodrell directed a made for television docu-drama about Robert Tudawali.^[4][5]

Tudawali was released on DVD by Umbrella Entertainment in July 2010. The DVD is compatible with all region codes and includes special features such as a stills gallery, press clippings, a featurette entitled Walkabout and Oondamooroo: Profile of Ernie Dingo.^[6]