He’s one of ‘s most iconic actors.
But 84-year-old Jack Thompson, who was once the country’s first male centrefold, is not as healthy as he used to be.
The veteran actor has been struggling with kidney disease for several years now, and requires dialysis to continue to live.
Thompson undergoes the procedure about three times a week due to his kidney failure, which developed as a result of prostate cancer.
Before he received treatment, the beloved actor was ‘days away from death.’
Thompson appeared on Channel Seven’s Spotlight on Sunday to reflect on his condition.
‘I’m in end stage renal failure, on dialysis. Dialysis keeps me where I am, on this side of the ground. I’m very grateful for it,’ he admitted.
‘When I was diagnosed, my wife said to the nephrologist, “is there an alternative to dialysis?”
Jack Thompson (pictured) has been struggling with kidney disease for several years now, and requires dialysis to continue to live. Thompson appeared on Channel Seven’s Spotlight on Sunday to reflect on his condition and saying he was ‘very grateful’ for dialysis
‘And he said “well, Mrs Thompson, you can have a dialysed Jack or you can have a dead Jack,”‘ the acting legend added.
Thompson added that he’d be dead ‘without that friendly robot behaving as a kidney’.
In an interview with the ABC in 2019, Thompson discussed how he incorporated the demands of dialysis between shooting scenes on the set of High Ground.
‘I would finish the day of filming around six o’clock and go to dialysis,’ he said.
Before he received treatment, the beloved actor was ‘days away from death’
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‘Finish about midnight, get to sleep about one [o’clock], get up again about five o’clock the next morning and back to filming. But I was a very happy man doing that,’ he confessed.
Thompson made his mark on n cinema often playing Aussie ‘blokey’ types, lending a rugged masculinity to his roles.
He played the horseman Clancy in the classic The Man From Snowy River, a soldier in Breaker Morant, and even had small roles in the Star Wars prequel films.
More recently, Thompson has starred in outback crime film, Mystery Road, alongside Aaron Pedersen.
‘I’m in end stage renal failure, on dialysis. Dialysis keeps me where I am, on this side of the ground. I’m very grateful for it,’ he admitted