The life and times of Uncle Jack Charles | ABC Conversations Podcast

In a career spanning more than half a century, Uncle Jack Charles used the stage to share painful and personal truths about being a Stolen Generations survivor.

Uncle Jack was born in Melbourne in 1943. He was taken from his mother as a baby and ended up in Box Hill Boys' Home where he was abused and told he was an orphan.

It was only towards the end of his life that Uncle Jack found out who his father was, finally knowing himself as a Wiradjuri man, as well as Boon Wurrung, Dja Dja Wurrung, Woiwurrung and Yorta Yorta.

Uncle Jack's early life had been defined by addiction, theft and twenty-two stints in jail.

But he forged a legacy as a giant of the arts, a tireless advocate for youth in detention and a trailblazing advocate for a fairer Australia.

Jack died in 2022.

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This episode of Conversations contains discussions about Aboriginal identity, Indigenous history, stolen generation, orphanages, boys homes, youth offending, foster families, birth mothers, family relationships, Lilydale High School, Victoria, Melbourne, Fitzroy, youth detention, home invasion, robbery, acting, performing, theatre, film, Sydney Opera House, Box Hill Boys' Home, orphans, sisters, brothers, siblings, addiction, heroin, jail, racism, advocacy, David Gulpilil, initiation, Bennalong.