“Elvis” star and singer Shonka Dukureh has passed away at the age of 44. Dukureh, who played Big Mama Thornton in Baz Luhrman’s Elvis Presley film, was found dead on July 21 at her Nashville home where she lived with her two young children, according to police. One of the children found her lifeless in her bedroom – she was unresponsive. The child then turned to a neighbor who called 911 at around 9:30 a.m. The results of the autopsy are still unknown. However, the police confirmed that there was no motive for the crime.
The actress received her BA in Theater Studies and Education from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. In the first week of this year’s Coachella Festival she performed together with rapper Doja Cat – in the second festival week she then played her own program. In an interview with local radio station WPLN-FM, she said she was a second-grade teacher and worked with inner-city youth on afternoon and summer programs. Students approached her after seeing her in Elvis.
The embodiment of Big Mama Thornton would be her breakthrough in the “Elvis” movie. The role of the blues legend, who gave the song “Hound Dog” its sound as early as 1953 before Presley made it a hit three years later, was her first major acting act. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Dukureh – she knew she would never get another chance like this. She explained, “You know what, it’s all amazing because I know there were a lot of people who could have played the role, or they had a lot of ways to play the role. And so I just knew how privileged I was to have this opportunity. And I just wanted Big Mama Thornton to be given the proper respect and I wanted to do her justice in the film.”
The biopic about Elvis Presley, directed by Baz Luhrmann, is currently showing in cinemas. See the official trailer here: