In Memory of Model/Actress Charlbi Dean ('Triangle of Sadness'): 2 Years After Her Tragic Death

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It's been two years since the tragic demise of actress/model Charlbi Dean. The charismatic Dean (a.k.a. Charlbi Dean Kriek) made her movie debut in Spud (2010), which was produced in her native South Africa. She also was cast in supporting roles in horror films like Don't Sleep (2017) and religious dramas such as Interview With God (2018) before portraying Syonide for two years on The CW superhero show Black Lightning.

Her Big Break

Charlbi Dean received her big break in satire, Triangle of Sadness, which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2023. The movie won the festival's esteemed Palm d'Or and Dean was praised for her performance.

The New Yorker raved about Dean's character Yaya, calling her the film's “dramatic engine." The review went on to say that Triangle of Sadness "would be nearly inert without Dean’s labile, coolly impulsive performance."

“The movie would have assured her stardom," the review concluded. "There’s no telling how many characters and films her death foreclosed before their conception.”

Then Tragedy Struck

Only a few months after the debut of Triangle of Sadness, Charlbi Dean died in a New York hospital at just 32 years old. The cause of death was a result of bacterial sepsis. The infection was "a complication from asplenia (the absence of a spleen)."

Back Story

In 2008, Charlbi Dean's spleen was removed following a car accident in which she was injured, leaving her vulnerable to a rare infection from a bacteria known as Capnocytophaga.