The beautiful and talented South African model and actress, Charlbi Dean (last name is Kriek) tragically died at the age of 32, from an unexpected illness at a New York City hospital.

She began modelling at the age of 6, appearing in commercials and catalogues. She signed with a modelling agency when she was 12, and was homeschooled from the age of 14. She travelled between Cape Town, where she attended Waterfront Theatre School, and the likes of Tokyo, New York, and London for her career.

The brunette beauty's tragic death came four months after she got engaged to her boyfriend of four years, Luke Chase Volker, on the same Manhattan street as their first kiss. Charlbi owned homes in the Hollywood Hills, New York City, and her Cape Town hometown where she and her fiancé were raising their fur baby (puppy-dog), Kanicki Deathbat Dean.

Her unexpected death ia all the more poignant because in October 2008, she survived a car crash. Her injuries included a broken wrist, four broken ribs, and a collapsed lung. She received life-saving surgery and after a period of recuperation, returned to modeling to show off her scars.

In 2010, Dean made her acting debut in the film adaptation of “Spud” as Amanda, a role she would reprise in the sequel “Spud 2: The Madness Continues.” She went on to star in the films “Don’t Sleep” in 2017 and “An Interview with God” in 2018. During the same year, she landed the role of Syonide, a recurring character she played for two seasons of the series “Black Lightning.”

In February 2020, it was announced Dean had joined the cast of the satirical film “Triangle of Sadness,” which premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival and won the Palme d’Or.

When “Triangle of Sadness” won the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or Charlbi Dean said she "had the best year making this [movie] during one of the hardest times in my life."

Charlbi Dean was a true star-in-the-making. She had a singular style showing great potential. Her death is an enormous loss.

Gone far too soon, may In Heaven with the Stars be all that she ever imagined.