Jack Karlson, who found viral fame by declaring “Gentlemen, this is democracy manifest!” while resisting arrest outside a Chinese restaurant in Australia, has died. He was 82.
His family confirmed Karlson’s passing in a statement, prompting an outpouring of tributes online. Footage of Karlson’s 1991 arrest in Brisbane became an internet sensation when it was uploaded in 2009 and still endures as a meme today thanks to the immortal appeal of Karlson’s dramatic words as several officers struggled to force him into a police car, including: “What is the charge? Eating a meal? A succulent Chinese meal?” and “Ah yes, I see that you know your judo well!”
Karlson died on Wednesday surrounded by his family, his family confirmed to News.com.au, saying he’d battled cancer and many other health issues including systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS).
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Karlson—which may have been an alias rather than his real name—was a safe-cracker who escaped from prisons on several occasions, according to The Guardian. He maintained that he was innocent on the day of his 1991 arrest over credit card fraud at the China Sea restaurant, however. “It was a case of mistaken identity, they thought I was some international gangster,” he told Australia’s ABC News in June.
“He walked a full and colourful path and despite the troubles thrown at him, he lived by his motto —to keep on laughing,” his family statement read. Kim Edwards, his niece, added that he’d spent the last weeks of his life in a hospital. “He had a few attempts to escape and pulled his cords out a couple of times and asked us many [times] to sneak in his pipe,” she said.
Karlson’s passing comes before the release of a documentary about his life, The Man Who Ate a Succulent Chinese Meal. “There really is only one Jack Karlson and he truly was Australia’s last larrikin. We’ve lost an icon today,” Heath Davis, the film’s director, told 7News. “Jack’s spark will forever live on, much like his infamous viral video. I’ll be having a beer and succulent Chinese meal in his honour tonight. You can finally rest in peace, mate.”
