[5] Jimmy Little Sr. was a tap dancer, comedian, musician and singer who led his own vaudeville troupe along the Murray River during the 1930s and 1940s.

[7] Little grew up, the eldest of seven children, on the Cummeragunja Aboriginal Reserve on the Murray River in New South Wales, about 30 kilometres (19 mi) from Echuca in Victoria.

[1][8] Little later recalled his upbringing, "[my parents] taught me well about the value of life, freedom, love, respect, all those basic things that we need.

[9] He is an uncle of writer, soprano, and composer Deborah Cheetham and older brother of the late Aboriginal author and singer-songwriter Betty Little.

[10][11] In February 1939, about 200 to 300 members of the mission participated in the Cummeragunja walk-off – in protest at the low standard of living conditions.

[13] In 1955 Little left home to live in Sydney and pursue a career in country music, his mellow style earned him the nicknames of "the Balladeer", "Gentleman Jim" and "the Honey Voice".

[13] Little signed with Festival Records and in September 1959, he had his first charting single, "Danny Boy", from the extended play, Jimmy Little Sings Ballads with a Beat, which peaked at No.

[1] Little made his acting debut in the Billy Graham evangelical feature film Shadow of the Boomerang the same year.

[1][16] Little had the role of Johnny, a devout stockman on a cattle station where his American employer's son Bob refers to him as "that nigger".

[6] In September 1961, he appeared on the radio program, Col Joye Show, with fellow Bandstand regulars, Patsy Ann Noble and Judy Stone.

[18] By 1962, Little joined a touring stage production, All Coloured Show produced by Ted Quigg, and gained wider public exposure.

[15] In July 1963, he toured north west New South Wales with Rob E.G., Noleen Batley and Lonnie Lee and was personally booked out till November.

[19] In October 1963, after 17 singles, Little issued his biggest hit with the gospel song, "Royal Telephone", based upon the Burl Ives' version.

[1] Little was backed by the Jimmy Little Trio which had an all-indigenous line-up of Cyril Green,[22] Doug Peters and Neville Thorn.

[6][15] Little had turned to full-time acting by the 1980s, making his theatre debut in Black Cockatoos before appearing in director Wim Wenders' 1991 film Until the end of the World.

[1] As well as appearing in Tracey Moffatt's Night Cries and Andrew Schultz's opera Black River, his teaching and community work earned him the title of NAIDOC Aboriginal of the Year in 1989.

[1] It had been organised by Brendan Gallagher (from Karma County)[6] and featured covers of well-known songs by Australian artists: "(Are You) The One I've Been Waiting For?"

[23] Little returned in September 2001 with Resonate, an album featuring songs written by Paul Kelly, Don Walker, Bernard Fanning (from Powderfinger), Brendan Gallagher and Dave Graney.

In 2004 he released his 34th album, Life's What You Make It, a collection of distinctive and poignant versions of songs by contemporary artists as diverse as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, U2, PJ Harvey, Neil Young, Brian Wilson, Elvis Costello and Bruce Springsteen.

The play was written by Reg Cribb and called Country Song; it won the 2013 Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award for New Work.

[25] Little married fellow singer, Marjorie Rose Peters in 1958 and they had one child, Frances Claire Peters-Little (born ca.

[28] From 1985, Little taught and mentored indigenous music students at the Eora Centre in Redfern, and from 2002 he was an ambassador for literacy and numeracy for the Department of Education.

The foundation works with patients in regional and remote Australia and partnered with The Fred Hollows Foundation in 2009 to develop a nutrition and education program for indigenous children to reduce the cycle of bad nutrition leading to diabetes which can lead to kidney failure and diabetic retinopathy.

[30] His wife Marjorie Rose Little died on 25 July 2011, aged 74, in Dubbo – she had been under medical care since early that year for an unspecified illness.

[36] In 2012, Little received the JC Williamson Award, the LPA's highest honour, for their life's work in live performance.