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Nondumiso Tembe

Gender: Female

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Bio

Nondumiso Tembe is a South African actress and singer best known for her recurring role as the ghost Mavis in the fourth season of the television horror series True Blood, in 2011.

Born in Durban, Nondumiso spent her formative years in New York City, while her parents, South African soprano Linda Bukhosini and tenor Bongani Tembe, studied music at the Juilliard School.

Nondumiso began performing in opera and theatre around the age of 6. Being the daughter of two opera singers, she describes herself as having "grown up in the wings".

The family returned home to South Africa when Nondumiso was 10 years old, at the end of Apartheid. At 17 she returned to the Big Apple on her own, to study Musical Theatre at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy.

Tembe has a string of qualifications including, among others, a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre and Political Science with a focus on Africa from New York's New School University, and a Masters of Fine Arts in Acting from the Yale School of Drama.

She also spent a summer studying classical theatre at the British American Dramatic Academy at Oxford University in England and has studied Ballet and African dance at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and Djoniba African Dance and Drum Center in New York City.

Highlights of Nondumiso's career include playing the title role in Durban Playhouse Company's widely acclaimed production of Annie, a performance that lead her to be the first black actress to lead a multi-racial cast in a major theatrical production in post-Apartheid South Africa.

She received much attention for originating the roles of Maria and Thobile in the original South African musicals Leopard Skin and Mata-Mata, respectively.

Her favourite roles include her portrayal of Josephine Baker in a New York production and Mercutio in a provocative all-black production of Romeo and Juliet at Yale. She also enjoyed a summer performing at Princeton's reputed McCarter Theatre.

She also sang for Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday celebration at his home in Qunu, South Africa.

Now based in Los Angeles, pursuing a career in film and television, along with her music, Nondumiso appeared on NCIS: LA.

In January 2011 she released her debut album IZWI LAMI; My Voice, as well as Boston Court Theatre's production of the new African musical Witness Uganda in Los Angeles, in which she portrays a ferocious Ugandan woman who runs an orphanage.

In December 2013 she made her debut on Generations in the role of Phumelele Miya, a fashion executive raised in New York.


Television Roles

Show

Character

Aida N'diaye

Phumelele Miya

Herself

Navy Petty Officer First Class Josie Sparks

Linda Pierce

Fanta

Mavis

Herself


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