Thursday, September 23, 2004  

Dolly Rathebe, 1928 - Sept. 16, 2004




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Top photo: Dolly Rathebe, photographed in 1955 by Jurgen Schadeberg.
Other photos: Sophie Mgcina (left) & Dolly Rathebe in stills from the film Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony.
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Dolly Rathebe was a South African singer, actress, pinup girl, business woman, and activist. She will be buried in Soweto.
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If you've never seen Amandla!, you should bust out your credit card and buy it right now. The scenes with Mgcina and Rathebe reminiscing about music during the apartheid era are funny, sad, touching, and among the highlights in this great documentary. Here's a Real Player excerpt from Amandla! that was featured on the Connections radio show; you hear the two women crooning "Meadowslands" and then explaining what their real intentions were in singing that song. (The clip continues for 37 more minutes with other interviews from the stars of Amandla!)
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South African History entry on Rathebe
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iAfrica.com article
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CDs by the Elite Swingsters
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An article about Rathebe's star turn in the culturally significant 1949 movie Jim Comes to Jo'Burg (aka African Jim), and here's a piece where she remembers her audition for the film.
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Rathebe profiled in South Africa's Sunday Times
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Obituary in South Africa's Mail & Guardian
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BBC's page on the Sophiatown documentary
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A history of Sophiatown
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A history of South African music

Posted by CP | Link |

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