Charlbi Dean reportedly died on Monday, August 29, 2022 of an unexpected illness at a hospital in New York City. She was 32.
Dean’s death was confirmed by her brother Alexi Jacobs on August 30 on Instagram.
“I was unsure when writing this poem who it would be about but life has answered my question in the most cruel way”, Alexx wrote.
Charlbi Dean Kriek was a South African actress and model.
She was born Charlbi Dean Kriek on February 5, 1990 in Cape Town to Joanne Muller and Johan Kriek.
Dean began modeling at age 6, appearing in commercials and catalogues. She signed with Alfa Model Management when she was 12 and was homeschooled from the age of 14.
She traveled between Cape Town, where she attended Waterfront Theatre School, and the likes of Tokyo, New York, and London for her career.
In October 2008, Dean and fellow model Ashton Schnehage survived a car crash. She was hospitalised at Milnerton Medi-Clinic and received life-saving surgery.
Following the accident, she took a break from her career.
Charlbi Dean made her acting debut in the 2010 South African boarding-school comedy Spud, starring John Cleese and Troye Sivan by writer-director Donovan Marsh. She reprised her role for the 2013 sequel and went on to appear in the films Death Race 3: Inferno (2013), Blood in the Water (2016), Don’t Sleep (2017) and Porthole (2018) as well as the superhero drama series Black Lightning (2018) and the Palme d’Or winner Triangle of Sadness (2022).
As a model, she featured in the South African editions of GQ and Elle in December 2008 and July 2010, respectively.
Charlbi Dean is survived by her parents, Johan and Joanne Kriek and her brother Alexi Jacobs Kriek.