Rachael Carpani, the Australian actress best known for her role on McLeod’s Daughters, has died at the age of 45.
Her family shared the news on Instagram, noting that while she had been living with a chronic illness, her passing earlier this month was “unexpected.” The statement read that Carpani “unexpectedly but peacefully passed away after a long battle with chronic illness” in the early hours of December 7.
Carpani starred in nearly 180 episodes of McLeod’s Daughters, playing the kind-hearted Jodi Fountain from 2001 to 2009. She later moved to the United States, seeking to avoid being solely identified as “Jodi from McLeod’s Daughters.” In the U.S., she appeared in NCIS: Los Angeles, A&E’s The Glades, and the 2020 basketball film The Way Back starring Ben Affleck. Carpani also had a recurring role in the long-running Australian soap Home and Away.
In 2021, Carpani was hospitalized for abdominal pain and underwent surgery for an undisclosed condition, though she continued working afterward. Her passing has prompted an outpouring of tributes from fans and colleagues across the entertainment industry.