Legendary Actor in ‘End Stage Renal Failure’: Jack Thompson Was ‘Days Away From Death’ Before Starting Dialysis

Australian actor Jack Thompson shared a grim update on his health this weekend. The 84-year-old appeared on Channel Seven’s Spotlight on Sunday, where he explained how his battle with prostate cancer led to kidney disease. He even revealed that he was just days away from death when doctors prescribed dialysis treatment.

“I’m in end stage renal failure, on dialysis,” Thompson said. “Dialysis keeps me where I am, on this side of the ground. I’m very grateful for it. When I was diagnosed, my wife said to the nephrologist, ‘Is there an alternative to dialysis?’ And he said ‘Well, Mrs. Thompson, you can have a dialysed Jack or you can have a dead Jack.’” While Thompson’s news was dire, he maintained a sense of humor about it, referring to dialysis as “that friendly robot behaving as a kidney.”

Dialysis is a type of renal replacement therapy that allows a machine to carry out the normal function of the kidneys – removing excess water and toxins from the blood. It is typically prescribed for patients with an acute kidney injury or with chronic kidney failure at stage 5. It is often a temporary measure for those awaiting a kidney transplant, but it can also be a permanent solution for those who cannot get a full transplant.

Thompson has already been receiving dialysis for some time. In 2019, he discussed how the treatment impacted his shooting schedule for the movie High Ground. He told ABC: “I would finish the day of filming around six o’clock and go to dialysis. 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.”

Thompson is an icon in Australia, best known for movies like Sunday Too Far Away (1975), The Club (1980) and The Man from Snowy River (1982). To international audiences, he is likely most recognizable for playing Cliegg Lars in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. He is the husband of Anakin Skywalker’s mother and father of Luke Skywalker’s Uncle Owen.

Outside of his work, Thompson has a unique place in Australian pop culture, for better or worse. He was the first male model to pose for a nude centerfold in the country in 1972. His personal life has also raised some eyebrows – in 1969, then-29-year-old Thompson entered into a polyamorous relations with then-20-year-old Leona King and then-15-year-old Bunkie King. Bunkie left the relationship in 1985 and became estranged from Thompson and her sister, while Leona and Thompson remained together and had a child.

Thompson is still working today, with the new movie Runt out just last month in Australia. The actor shows no signs of slowing down for age or dialysis.