Nomhle Nkonyeni
{{Short description|South African actress (1942–2019)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Nomhle Nkonyeni
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1942|04|09}}
| birth_place = New Brighton, South Africa
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2019|07|10|1942|04|09}}
| death_place = Port Elizabeth, South Africa
| nationality = South African
| other_names =
| occupation = Actor
| children = Thabang Nkonyeni (daughter)
Teboho Nkonyeni (son)
| years_active = 1961–2019
| known_for =
| notable_works =
}}
Nomhle Nkonyeni (9 April 1942 – 10 July 2019{{cite web|url=https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/nomhle-nkonyeni-google-doodle-sa-actress-9-april-2022/|title=Nomhle Nkonyeni: Google honours SA actress on 80th birthday|access-date=2024-11-12|work=The South African|quote=Nkonyeni who passed away on 10 July 2019… was born on 9 April 1942|archive-date=13 November 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241113002058/https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/nomhle-nkonyeni-google-doodle-sa-actress-9-april-2022/|url-status=live}}) was a South African actress who has appeared in television series such as Mzansi, Tsha Tsha and the 2007 mini-series Society, as well as feature films such as Of Good Report (2013).{{Cite web|url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/tshisa-live/tshisa-live/2019-07-10-veteran-actress-nomhle-nkonyeni-dies-at-77/|title=Veteran actress Nomhle Nkonyeni dies at 77|date=10 July 2019|website=TimesLIVE|language=en-ZA|access-date=2019-12-19|archive-date=5 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191205023226/https://www.timeslive.co.za/tshisa-live/tshisa-live/2019-07-10-veteran-actress-nomhle-nkonyeni-dies-at-77/|url-status=live}}
Career
Starting in the 1961 during apartheid, Nkonyeni and others who wanted to change their lives using the stage met with Athol Fugard and formed the Serpent Players.{{Cite web|url=https://mg.co.za/article/2018-08-17-00-actor-humanist-mentor/|title=Actor, humanist, mentor|last=Sosibo|first=Kwanele|website=The M&G Online|language=en|date=17 August 2018|access-date=2019-12-20|archive-date=3 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201103151614/https://mg.co.za/article/2018-08-17-00-actor-humanist-mentor/|url-status=live}}"'Art is Life and Life is Art'. An interview with John Kani and Winston Ntshona of the Serpent Players from South Africa", in Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies [Internet], 6(2), 1976, pp. 5–26. Available from: [http://escholarship.org/uc/item/9qb6w2wz eScholarship] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805004421/https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9qb6w2wz |date=5 August 2020 }}, University of California. Accessed 26 July 2017.
In 1981, she played the lead role in Die Swerfjare van Poppie Nongena (The Long Journey of Poppie Nongena), at the CAPAB (Cape Performing Arts Board) theatre in Cape Town.{{Cite web|url=https://mg.co.za/article/2019-07-10-another-new-brighton-veteran-bids-us-farewell/|title=Nomhle Nkonyeni bids us farewell|last=Hlalethwa|first=Zaza|website=The M&G Online|date=10 July 2019|language=en|access-date=2019-12-19|archive-date=3 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201103151642/https://mg.co.za/article/2019-07-10-another-new-brighton-veteran-bids-us-farewell/|url-status=live}} She said, “I was the first black person to perform on that stage and when that door opened, I never shut it.”
Nkonyeni received a Diploma in Conflict Management from Lewisham College in London, England, in 1999.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/nomhle-nkonyeni|title=Nomhle Nkonyeni {{!}} South African History Online|website=www.sahistory.org.za|access-date=2019-12-21|archive-date=3 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201103151757/https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/nomhle-nkonyeni|url-status=live}}
In 2002, she also received her Master's degree in Theatre for Development from King Alfred's College (now University of Winchester).{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ElSXBgAAQBAJ&dq=Nomhle+Nkonyeni&pg=PA233|title=A Place to Live: Red Location and its history from 1903 to 2013|last=Msila|first=Vuyisile|date=2014-12-01|publisher=AFRICAN SUN MeDIA|isbn=978-0-9922359-4-9|language=en}}
Nkonyeni was in the international films Red Dust (2004) with Hilary Swank, Catch A Fire (2006) with Tim Robbins, and as Forest Whitaker's mother in Zulu (aka City of Violence, 2013).{{Cite web|url=https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/sundayworld/lifestyle/2019-05-15-nomhle-nkonyeni-arts-matriarch-shines-on/|title=Nomhle Nkonyeni: Arts matriarch shines on|website=SowetanLIVE|language=en-ZA|access-date=2019-12-20|archive-date=3 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201103151812/https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/sundayworld/lifestyle/2019-05-15-nomhle-nkonyeni-arts-matriarch-shines-on/|url-status=live}} Her last film, Knuckle City (2019), is South Africa’s official submission for the Academy Awards.{{Cite web|url=https://mzansimagic.dstv.com/news/knuckle-city-is-sa-s-oscar-choice|title=Knuckle City is SA's Oscar choice|website=Mzansi Magic - Knuckle City is SA’s Oscar choice|language=en|access-date=2019-12-20|archive-date=3 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201103151904/https://mzansimagic.dstv.com/news/knuckle-city-is-sa-s-oscar-choice|url-status=live}}
She was also in many soap operas and dramas on television. In 2017, she joined Scandal! in the role of Lulama Langa, mother to Siseko Langa, played by Hlomla Dandala. She was scheduled to film more of "her much-loved and feisty character" when she suddenly died.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/entertainment/2019-08-14-yizo-yizos-nomsa-ready-to-fill-deceased-nomhle-nkonyenis-big-shoes-in-scandal/|title=Yizo Yizo's Nomsa ready to fill deceased Nomhle Nkonyeni's big shoes in Scandal!|website=SowetanLIVE|language=en-ZA|access-date=2019-12-19|archive-date=3 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201103152101/https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/entertainment/2019-08-14-yizo-yizos-nomsa-ready-to-fill-deceased-nomhle-nkonyenis-big-shoes-in-scandal/|url-status=live}}
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes |
|---|
| 2019
|Ma Bokwana |Crime |
| 2019
|The Space: Theatre of Survival |herself |Documentary |
| 2018
|Old Matriarch |Action / Adventure |
| 2013
|Landlady |Crime / Drama / Thriller |
| 2013
|Zulu |Josephina |as Nomhle Nkoyeni |
| 2012
|Angus Buchan's Ordinary People |Maria |as Nomhlé Nkyonyeni |
| 2010
|Themba |Ma Zanele |as Nomhlé Nkyonyeni |
| 2008
|Skin |Jenny Zwane |Biography / Drama |
| 2006
|Mama Dorothy |Biography / Drama / History |
| 2004
|Mrs. Sizela |as Nomhle Nkyonyeni |
| 2004
|Mrs. Kleynhans |Comedy |
| 2003
|Servant |Family drama |
| 2000
|Christmas with Granny |Granny |Short |
| 1999
|Chikin Biznis ... The Whole Story! |Mamkete |Directed by Ntshaveni Wa Luruli |
=Television=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes |
|---|
| 2017
|Lulama Langa | |
| 2007
|Society |Ma Moloi | |
| 2016
|Igazi |Queen Mother | |
| 2006
|Tsha tsha |Lwazi's Aunt |as Nomhlé Nkyonyeni |
| 2005
|Granny |(2005) |
| 2005
|Gaz'lam |Kim's Mom |
| 2004
|Zero Tolerance | | |
| 2003
|Scout's Safari | |2 episodes as Nomhlé Nkyonyeni |
| 1997
|Les enfants du Karoo | |Television film as Nomhlé Nkyonyeni |
Awards
In 2016 she was awarded the South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs) Lifetime Achievement Award.{{cite web|title=Veteran actor Nomhle Nkonyeni passes away|url=https://citizen.co.za/lifestyle/your-life-entertainment-your-life/entertainment-celebrities/2152844/veteran-actor-nomhle-nkonyeni-passes-away/|website=citizen.co.za|date=10 July 2019|accessdate=10 July 2019|archive-date=10 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190710110004/https://citizen.co.za/lifestyle/your-life-entertainment-your-life/entertainment-celebrities/2152844/veteran-actor-nomhle-nkonyeni-passes-away/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.channel24.co.za/TV/News/all-the-winners-at-the-2016-saftas-20160320|title=All the winners at the 2016 Saftas|date=2016-03-20|website=Channel|language=en|access-date=2019-12-19|archive-date=5 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190905181605/https://www.channel24.co.za/TV/News/all-the-winners-at-the-2016-saftas-20160320|url-status=live}} And in 2018, she also received the Lifetime Achievement Award in the Eastern Cape cultural awards.
She received the Order of Ikhamanga in Silver in 2019 for her contribution in arts and culture.{{Cite web|url=https://www.heraldlive.co.za/news/2019-04-10-god-wants-me-to-share-my-talent/|title='God wants me to share my talent'|last=Siyabonga SESANT|first=Sesant|date=10 April 2019|website=HeraldLIVE|language=en-ZA|access-date=2019-12-19|archive-date=3 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201103151948/https://www.heraldlive.co.za/news/2019-04-10-god-wants-me-to-share-my-talent/|url-status=live}}
New Brighton, Eastern Cape renamed Aggrey Road after her. The Arthur Wellington Church was on that road, and she spent much of her childhood there.
Personal life and death
Nkonyeni had a son, Teboho Nkonyeni,{{cite web|url=https://www.heraldlive.co.za/news/2019-07-11-mampangela-our-legend-tributes-pour-in-for-veteran-actress-nomhle-nkonyeni/|title=Ma’Mpangela, our legend - South Africa mourns Nomhle Nkonyeni|date=2019-07-11|access-date=2024-11-12|work=The Herald Live|archive-date=13 November 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241113002058/https://www.heraldlive.co.za/news/2019-07-11-mampangela-our-legend-tributes-pour-in-for-veteran-actress-nomhle-nkonyeni/|url-status=live}} and a daughter Thabang Nkonyeni, who was murdered on August 11, 2009.{{cite web|url=https://graves-at-eggsa.org/main.php?g2_itemId=2100871|title=Thabang Nkonyeni †|website=gravesateggsa|access-date=18 April 2020|archive-date=3 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201103122336/https://graves-at-eggsa.org/main.php?g2_itemId=2100871|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/entertainment/2018-06-12-tv-icon-nomhle-nkonyeni-to-lead-femicide-protest/|title=TV icon Nomhle Nkonyeni to lead femicide protest|website=SowetanLIVE|language=en-ZA|access-date=2019-12-19|archive-date=3 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201103151933/https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/entertainment/2018-06-12-tv-icon-nomhle-nkonyeni-to-lead-femicide-protest/|url-status=live}}
Nkonyeni died in hospital on 10 July 2019 after a short illness aged 77.{{cite web|title=Actress Nomhle Nkonyeni dies|url=https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/entertainment/2019-07-10-actress-nomhle-nkonyeni-dies/|website=sowetanlive.co.za|accessdate=10 July 2019|archive-date=10 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190710190854/https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/entertainment/2019-07-10-actress-nomhle-nkonyeni-dies/|url-status=live}} President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a Special Provincial Funeral Category Two for her because of her outstanding work in the arts and culture in South Africa. Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane said, “She has played quite a huge significant role in social cohesion. We really appreciate it and are hugely indebted to people of her calibre and the role that she has played under very difficult conditions, sometimes using art to communicate a message and also to fight the injustice of the then government of the day."{{Cite web|url=http://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/veteran-actress-nomhle-nkonyeni-to-get-special-provincial-funeral/|title=Veteran actress Nomhle Nkonyeni to get Special Provincial Funeral|date=2019-07-16|website=SABC News|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-19|archive-date=19 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219203402/http://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/veteran-actress-nomhle-nkonyeni-to-get-special-provincial-funeral/|url-status=live}}
Following her death, a Google Doodle of her life and work was published.{{cite web|url=https://doodles.google/doodle/nomhle-nkonyenis-80th-birthday/|access-date=2024-11-12|title=Nomhle Nkonyeni's 80th Birthday|website=Google Doodles|date=2022-04-09|archive-date=13 November 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241113060604/https://doodles.google/doodle/nomhle-nkonyenis-80th-birthday/|url-status=live}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|1099054}}
- [https://www.tvsa.co.za/actors/viewactor.aspx?actorid=4040 Nomhle Nkonyeni on TVSA]
- {{YouTube|dbhS_hBFnmo|Big Screen Stories by Nomhle Nkonyeni at TEDxPortElizabeth 1 July 2016}}
- Nomhle Nkonyeni [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0cOSJPkZcY Memorial Service 17 July 2019] and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q26u8krieJY Special Provincial Funeral Service 19 July 2019] from SABC Digital News
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nkonyeni, Nomhle}}
Category:People from New Brighton, Eastern Cape