Steve Dodd
| Steve Dodd | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1 June 1928 Unclear (see below) |
| Died | 10 November 2014 (aged 86) Basin View, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation | Actor, stockman |
| Years active | 1946–2008 |
Steve Dodd (1 June 1928 – 10 November 2014) was an Indigenous Australian actor, notable for playing indigenous characters across seven decades of Australian film. After beginning his working life as a stockman and rodeo rider, Dodd was given his first film roles by prominent Australian actor Chips Rafferty. His career was interrupted by six years in the Australian Army during the Korean War, and limited by typecasting.
Dodd performed in several major Australian movies, including Gallipoli and The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, in which he played Tabidgi, the murdering uncle of the lead character. He also held minor parts in Australia-based international film productions including The Coca-Cola Kid, Quigley Down Under and The Matrix. He likewise appeared in minor roles in early Australian television series, such as Homicide and Rush, as well as later series including The Flying Doctors. In 2013, Dodd was honoured with the Jimmy Little Lifetime Achievement Award at the 19th Deadly Awards at the Sydney Opera House. He died in November 2014.
Dodd, also known as Mullawa or Mulla walla (flying fish), was an Arunta or Arrente Indigenous man from central Australia. It is unclear if Dodd was from the Northern Territory or South Australia: one source states he was born in Alice Springs, and another states he was born at the Hermannsburg Mission, to the town's south-west. However a third source suggests Oodnadatta, across the border in South Australia, while Dodd himself, in a 2011 interview, stated he was South Australian. A 1953 newspaper report states that he was from Coober Pedy and had been resident at Colebrook Home, which housed Indigenous children from northern South Australia; some residents subsequently identified as members of the Stolen Generation. The only record of a birth date is in the Department of Veterans' Affairs' Nominal Roll of Australian Veterans of the Korean War, which gives 1 June 1928.
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