Alton Kumalo

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Alton Kumalo (1939-2013). Actor, writer.

Biography

Alton was born in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and moved with his family to South Africa in the late 1950s.

He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1968 and became the first black actor to play Shakespearean roles there regularly before he left to found the groundbreaking Temba Theatre Company in 1972. , .

He acted in Sizwe Bansi is Dead in the UK in the 1970s, and co-wrote and performed in the plays Biko ((with Peter Rodda, 1979) and performed in Bitter Milk (with David Clough, 1983).

He died in the United Kingdom in 2013 at the age of 73.

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

He appeared in the Union Artists production of King Kong: An All-African Jazz Opera in 1960 as the Journalist, touring South Africa before the production was taken to London.

Sources

Warwick web page [1].


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