The Secret Life of Us and Mystery Road’s Lillian Crombie dies aged 66 as tributes flood in for the actress who starred alongside Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman in Baz Luhrmann’s 2008 epic Australia

Australian actress Lillian Crombie has died at age 66.

The star was best known for her roles in the cult TV series The Secret Life of Us and Mystery Road, as well Baz Luhrmann’s film Australia.

Crombie’s death was announced on Tuesday by her daughter Elaine Crombie, who shared a moving tribute to her beloved mother on Facebook.

‘Lily of the Valley danced around the world, acted on stages around the world, graced the big screen, the small screen and has definitely left an imprint in our lives,’ she wrote.

The sad news was soon inundated with tributes for the proud Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara woman, including one from prominent Indigenous actor Natasha Wanganeen.

‘Thank you for all you’ve done for our people. You’re an inspiration and you always will be to anyone who knew and loved you,’ she wrote. 

Elsewhere, the South Australian Film Corporation said it heard the news with ‘deep sadness’. 

In 2019, Crombie, from Port Pirie in South Australia, received a lifetime achievement award from the Equity Foundation for her contributions to the arts. 

Australian playwright and artistic director Wesley Enoch described her as a pioneer who paved the way for First Nations stories to be told. 

‘Her amazing comic timing is legendary. Who could ever resist the way she winks an eye and flashes her smile and has you laughing while she delivers a huge life lesson,’ he said at the time.

‘Working with Lillian is like a rollercoaster where she has you guessing in the rehearsal room, but when in front of an audience she never fails to capture hearts and minds.’

Aside from her stellar career on screen, she also appeared on stage with some of the country’s most prestigious theatre groups, including the Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney Theatre Company and the State Theatre Company of SA.

In 2015 Lillian founded the Lillian Crombie Foundation to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families with travel, whether for ‘Sorry Business’ when they have lost loved ones, or to visit family members who are seriously ill.