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Steve Dodd, born in Alice Springs, is an Indigenous Australian actor, notable for playing Indigenous characters in a large number of films. He has held roles in some of Australia's most prominent movies, including The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith and Gallipoli.

Background

Steve Dodd was born in Alice Springs, though no date has been given. He worked as a stockman, horse breaker and rodeo rider prior to, and during, his acting career. He was a member of the Rough Riders Association, and gave exhibition rides at the Calgary Stampede in 1964. Dodd also served in Korea, during a six year stint in the Australian army.

Film and television

Dodd is a pioneering actor, who has played significant roles in Australian theatre and film. Dodd owed his first role, in the 1946 film The Overlanders, to Australian actor Chips Rafferty. Rafferty noticed Dodd on set and gave him a small role. It was the first of three Rafferty movies in which Dodd secured a part, the second being Bitter Springs in 1950. This second film was notable for being "a serious study of the relations of white settlers and Aborigines" and "more honest than most Australian film-makers ventured to be at that time". Rafferty was also the star of the film that gave Dodd his third minor screen role, Kangaroo.

In 1966 he performed the role of Darky Morris in a J.C. Williamson production of Desire of the Moth. However, for many years, Dodd and his fellow Aboriginal actors found themselves included in only minor and typecast roles in television productions. Dodd joked that "he was sick of roles where his total dialogue was, 'he went that way, Boss!'" Reflecting on this issue, a commentator on the screenplay of Little Boy Lost remarked:

There are many irrelevant scenes, the most obvious one being where Tracker Bindi (Steve Dodd), an Aboriginal, is introduced - yet another tired reinforcement of a false stereotype.

Despite this typecasting, Dodd contributed to several films in which issues facing Indigenous Australians, such as land rights or race relations, were the central subject. These appearances included Bitter Springs (mentioned above) and The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith. Dodd played Jimmie Blacksmith's uncle Tabidgi. In the film, Jimmie Blacksmith marries a white woman Gilda Marshall (played by Angela Punch McGregor). When they have a baby, Dodd's character, "a tribal elder,... is worried about Jimmie's marriage to a white woman and has brought him a talisman to keep him safe". Pauline Kael, writing in The New Yorker, described the performances of the two black professional actors (Jack Charles and Dodd) as "wonderful as sots:... Steve Dodds , who is tried for murder and simply says, 'You'd think it would take a good while to make up your mind to kill someone and then to kill them, but take my word dor it, it only takes a second'".

A decade later, Ground Zero was another film tackling Indigenous issues in which Dodd played a minor part, again with Jack Thompson playing one of the lead roles. This time, Dodd plays Freddy Tjapalijarri.

In addition to working in theatre and film, Dodd has had roles in many early Australian TV dramas including Delta (1969), Riptide (1969), Woobinda - Animal Doctor (1970), Spyforce (1972-73), Homicide (1974), and Rush (1976). Other popular TV series in which he has appeared have included The Flying Doctors (1985-1988) and The Alice (2006).

Filmography

References

1. ^ Anonymous, 'Steve Dodd, actor', Dawn, June 1966.
2. Monthly Film Bulletin, 1950, cited in National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Educational Website, Aboriginal people in Australian feature film Part 1, retrieved 26 February 2009.
3. Smart, Ralph (1980). 'Bitter Springs', in Pike, Andrew and Cooper, Ross. Oxford Australian Film 1900–1977. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
4. ^ Pike, A.F. (1996). Goffage, John William Pilbean , Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 14. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, pp 284-285.
5. National Library of Australia catalogue entry, Desire of the Moth cast picture, retrieved 25 February 2009.
6. Gary Foley, Koori Engagement with Television, Kooriweb, retrieved 25 February 2009.
7. Brown, Suzanne (1995). 'Little Boy Lost', in Murray, Scott (ed.), Australian Film 1978-1994: A Survey of Theatrical Features. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, Australian Film Commission and Cinema Papers.
8. National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Educational Website, Aboriginal people in Australian feature film Part 2, retrieved 25 February 2009.
9. ^ Kaul, Pauline (1980). 'A Dreamlike Requiem Mass for a Nation's Lost Honour', New Yorker, 15 September 1980. In Moran, Albert and O'egan, Tom (eds). An Australian Film Reader. Sydney: Currency Press.
10. Klein, Fred and Nolen, Ronald (2001). The Macmillan International Film Encyclopedia (4th edition). London: Macmillan.
11. Classic Australian Television, Delta Episodes and cast list, retrieved 25 February 2009.
12. ^ IMDb, Steve Dodd - Filmography by year, retrieved 25 February 2009.
13. National Film and Sound Archive, Collection holdings, The Overlanders.

External links

• Steve Dodd at IMDb
• Image of Steve Dodd in 1966 theatre production, Desire of the Moth

• Indigenous Australian actors
• People from Alice Springs, Northern Territory