She was a true star-in-the-making and a brilliant actress.
But tragically, Charlbi Dean died at the age of 32 – and no one could understand how it could happen.
But now, the New York City medical examiner has confirmed how Charlbi passed away, according to Fox News.
South African actress Charlbi Dean was a pretty unknown name before her breakout role in Triangle of Sadness, a movie that premiered in 2022.
As an actress who almost came from nowhere, she did a fantastic job portraying an aspiring model and influencer. The satirical movie, directed by Ruben Östlund, was an instant hit – Triangle of Sadness won this year’s top prize at the Cannes Film Festival, the Palme d’Or.
The 32-year-old Charlbi Dean starred alongside the Hollywood veteran Woody Harrelson and Harris Dickinson but managed to shine.
But sadly, just before the movie was going to catapult Charlbi into stardom, she sought medical attention. On 29 August 2022, she was admitted to a hospital in New York City after feeling unwell.
At first, her symptoms were ”minor,” but Charlbi asked her fiancé to take her to the emergency room just in case.
Then, in a matter of hours, she died.
“This happened literally within the span of a day: getting a headache, going to sleep, waking up her boyfriend and saying please take me to the hospital,” her brother, Alex Jacobs, told Rolling Stone.
Her family was, of course, devastated. And one thing that made things worse was that they weren’t entirely sure what had happened to her. There were a lot of speculations – but all they could do was wait for the autopsy.
Cause of death
After four long months, the New York City medical examiner finally confirmed was caused Charlbi Dean’s death. According to the officials, she died of bacterial sepsis.
According to Fox News Digital, the medical examiner documented her cause of death as “bacterial (Capnocytophaga) sepsis complicating asplenia due to remote blunt force trauma of torso.”
One might ask how such a young woman could die of bacterial sepsis and how it could happen so quickly. But maybe the answer lies in Charlbi’s past.
In 2008, Charlbi was involved in a horrible car accident and got seriously wounded. She suffered a broken back, broken ribs, and a broken wrist. The model and actress, then 18 years old, received life-saving surgery. The surgeons also had to remove her spleen.
If your spleen needs to be removed, there is a small risk that a serious infection may develop quickly.
”[The spleen is] involved in fighting off infections, and that could have had something to do what happened,” Alex Jacobs said in August and added:
”Her spleen not being there just added on to the reason why she perhaps couldn’t fight it off.”
Mourned by many
Charlbi Dean was born on 5 February 1990 and grew up in Cape Town, South Africa. She started modeling as a young girl and traveled the world.
She made her acting debut in 2010, portraying Amanda in the South African comedy-drama Spud. After that, she appeared in a Spud sequel and then went on to star in movies like Don’t Sleep and An Interview with God.
But her breakthrough would come with her leading role in Ruben Östlund’s satirical film Triangle of Sadness. Östlund was in shock when he got the news in August, just before the international release of his movie.
”It is an honour to have gotten to know and work with her,” he wrote on his Instagram.
”Charlbi had a care and sensitivity that lifted her colleagues and the entire film crew. The thought that she will not be by our side in the future makes me very sad.”
The Guardian’s famous film critic, Peter Bradshaw, wrote: ”Charlbi Dean was a true star-in-the-making. Her loss is a huge one.”
