Connie Chiume was a South African actress known for her performance as the tribal elder Zawavari in Marvel’s “Black Panther” and its sequel, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”
- Died: August 6, 2024 (Who else died on August 6?)
- Details of death: Died at a hospital in Johannesburg at the age of 72.
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Connie Chiume’s legacy
Chiume was well known in South Africa for her roles on such TV shows as “Rhythm City,” “Zone 14,” “Home Affairs,” and “Housekeepers.” In the 1990s, she began being cast in U.S. films, starting with a small role in the 1994 basketball comedy “The Air Up There.” She went on to appear in such movies as “I Dreamed of Africa,” “In My Country” and the South African romantic comedy “Fanie Fourie’s Lobola.”
To U.S. audiences, Chiume is best known for her role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – one she later said she didn’t know she was auditioning for. She was told she was auditioning for a film called “Motherland,” and when her audition was a success, she was informed she would be playing a small role in “Black Panther” as one of four tribal elders featured in the film’s depiction of the African nation of Wakanda. Her character led the Mining Tribe. For “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” her character rose to become Wakanda’s Elder Statesman.
Chiume was also known for a prominent role in “Black Is King,” the 2020 Beyonce-directed companion film to “The Lion King.” She played a queen, inspired by the character Sarabi, Simba’s mother in “The Lion King.”
Chiume on telling her colleagues about her big role
“They asked me when I was gonna shoot, and shyly I said ‘Black Panther.’ After that, everybody stood up, they started running and screaming. One of them Googled it, and they showed me, and I was like, ‘What!!?’” — from a 2022 interview on the King David podcast
Tributes to Connie Chiume
Full obituary: BBC
