Minah Ogbenyealu Bird, (also known as Mynah Bird, 11 March 1950 – July 1995) was a Nigerian model and actress active in the United Kingdom in the 1970s.

Biography

Bird hailed from Aba in Nigeria and was educated in both Nigeria and Finland. After appearing in such films as ''

Up Pompeii ''Up Pompeii!'' is a British television comedy series broadcast between 1969 and 1970, starring Frankie Howerd. The first series was written by Talbot Rothwell, a scriptwriter for the ''Carry On'' films, and the second series by Rothwell and S ...

'' (1971), '' Four Dimensions of Greta'' (1972), ''

The Love Box ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' (1972), '' Layout for 5 Models'' (1972), ''

Percy's Progress ''Percy's Progress'' is a 1974 British comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas. It was written by Sid Colin, Harry H. Corbett and Ian La Frenais. It was released in the United States under the title ''It's Not the Size That Counts''. The US ...

'' (1974), '' Vampira'' (1974), '' Alfie Darling'' (1976), '' The Stud'' (1978), '' The London Connection'' (1979) and '' A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square'' (1979). Described as the "only major black starlet in British sex films", she vanished from public view from the late 1970s and was found dead in her

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

council flat, a few weeks after suffering an apparent

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

in 1995. Bird was listed as one of the "top black fashion models who paved the way for black women in fashion" alongside Iman and

Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a model, singer and actress. Born in Jamaica, she and her family moved to Syracuse, New York, when she was a teenager. Jones began her modelling career in New York state, then in Paris, working for ...

. She appeared on the

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of copy ...

Oz magazine ''Oz'' was an independently published, alternative/underground magazine associated with the international counterculture of the 1960s. While it was first published in Sydney in 1963, a parallel version of ''Oz'' was published in London from 1967 ...

in November 1970. She is credited with a series in the

Sunday Mirror The ''Sunday Mirror'' is the Sunday sister paper of the ''Daily Mirror''. It began life in 1915 as the ''Sunday Pictorial'' and was renamed the ''Sunday Mirror'' in 1963. In 2016 it had an average weekly circulation of 620,861, dropping marke ...

in the mid 70s that birthed the trend of Kiss N Tell stories in newspapers.

Filmography

References

External links

* 1950 births 1995 deaths 20th-century Nigerian actresses Black British actresses Nigerian emigrants to the United Kingdom British female models Nigerian female models Igbo female models Igbo actresses {{model-stub