Krishna Kaur Khalsa (born 16 May 1939), born Thelma Oliver, is an American teacher of Kundalini Yoga as taught by

Yogi Bhajan Yogi Bhajan (born Harbhajan Singh Puri) (August 26, 1929 – October 6, 2004), also known as Siri Singh Sahib to his followers, was an American entrepreneur, yoga guru, and putative spiritual teacher. He introduced his version of Kundalin ...

. She started her career as an actress in film and theater. In 1970, she shifted her focus to the practice of

yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

Early years

Khalsa, formerly known as Thelma Oliver, was born on May 6, 1939, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Her father, Cappy Oliver, played the trumpet with

Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, and bandleader. He worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, an ...

's band. Khalsa studied dance at a school run by

Jeni Le Gon Jeni LeGon (born Jennie Ligon; August 14, 1916 – December 7, 2012), also credited as Jeni Le Gon, was an American dancer, dance instructor, and actress. She was one of the first African-American women to establish a solo career in tap da ...

and later majored in Drama and

Theatre Arts Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communic ...

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

Performing career

Oliver left school in 1961 and moved east. Her

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

stage debut was in the play '' The Blacks'' by French dramatist

Jean Genet Jean Genet (; ; – ) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels '' The Th ...

, where she performed the role of Virtue alongside

Louis Gossett Jr. Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. (May 27, 1936 – March 29, 2024) was an American actor. He made his stage debut at the age of 17. Shortly thereafter, he successfully auditioned for the Broadway theatre, Broadway play ''Take a Giant Step.'' Gossett co ...

Oliver also performed in the musicals ''Fly Blackbird'' and ''Cindy'', and the revue ''The Living Premise'', where in 1963 she replaced

Diana Sands Diana Patricia Sands (August 22, 1934September 21, 1973) was an American actress, perhaps most known for her portrayal of Beneatha Younger, the sister of Sidney Poitier's character, Walter, in the original stage and film versions of Lorraine Han ...

for two months. Oliver also took several film roles beginning in 1958 with a part as a "Negro woman" in the hit ''

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

''. Her contribution to the 1961 swashbuckler ''

Pirates of Tortuga ''Pirates of Tortuga'' is a 1961 American swashbuckler film which invented an alternate history for the actual Welsh privateer Henry Morgan. It was released in October 1961 in the United States in CinemaScope. Plot In the 17th century, a Welsh c ...

'' is not credited. In ''

Black Like Me ''Black Like Me'', first published in 1961, is a nonfiction book by journalist John Howard Griffin recounting his journey in the Deep South of the United States, at a time when African-Americans lived under racial segregation. Griffin was a na ...

'', released in 1964, Oliver played the role of Georgie. She performed the role of "Ortiz's girl" in

Sidney Lumet Sidney Arthur Lumet ( ; June 25, 1924 – April 9, 2011) was an American film director. Lumet started his career in theatre before moving to film, where he gained a reputation for making realistic and gritty New York City, New York dramas w ...

's ''

The Pawnbroker ''The Pawnbroker'' (1961) is a novel by Edward Lewis Wallant which tells the story of Sol Nazerman, a concentration camp survivor who suffers flashbacks of his past Nazi imprisonment as he tries to cope with his daily life operating a pawn s ...

''. The cast included

Rod Steiger Rodney Stephen Steiger ( ; April 14, 1925 – July 9, 2002) was an American actor, noted for his portrayal of offbeat, often volatile and crazed characters. Ranked as "one of Hollywood's most charismatic and dynamic stars", he is closely associ ...

Geraldine Fitzgerald Geraldine Mary Fitzgerald (November 24, 1913 – July 17, 2005) was an Irish actress. She received the Daytime Emmy Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Tony Award. She was a member of the American T ...

, and

Brock Peters Brock Peters (born George Fisher; July 2, 1927 – August 23, 2005) was an American actor, best known for playing the villainous "Crown" in the 1959 film version of ''Porgy and Bess'', and Tom Robinson in the 1962 film ''To Kill a Mockingbird ...

. Oliver's key scene with Rod Steiger near the film's end drew controversy when Oliver exposed her breasts. The film was among the first American movies to feature

nudity Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. While estimates vary, for the first 90,000 years of pre-history, anatomically modern humans were naked, having lost their body hair, living in hospitable climates, and not ...

while the

Motion Picture Production Code The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the Cinema of the United States, United States from 1934 to 1968. It ...

was enforced. It was the first film featuring bare breasts to receive Production Code approval. Although it was officially presented as a special exception, the controversy marked one of the first significant challenges to the Code, which eventually contributed to its discontinuation. Thelma Oliver landed the role of "Helene" in the Broadway musical ''

Sweet Charity ''Sweet Charity'' is a musical with music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields, and book by Neil Simon, based on the screenplay for the 1957 Italian film '' Nights of Cabiria''. It was directed and choreographed for Broadway by Bob Fosse sta ...

'' with

Gwen Verdon Gwyneth Evelyn "Gwen" Verdon (January 13, 1925October 18, 2000) was an American actress and dancer. She won four Tony Awards for her musical comedy performances, and she served as an uncredited choreographer's assistant and specialty dance coach ...

. ''Sweet Charity'' played at the

Palace Theatre Palace Theatre, or Palace Theater, is the name of many theatres in different countries, including: Australia *Palace Theatre, Melbourne, Victoria *Palace Theatre, Sydney, New South Wales Canada *Palace Theatre, housed in the Robillard Block, Mo ...

from January 1966 to July 1967, with 608 performances, garnering twelve

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

nominations, including an award for its choreography.

Turn to Yoga

While a 1966 ''

Ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also includes the persimmon tree. A few ''Diospyros'' species, such as macassar and mun ebony, are dense enough to sink in water. Ebony is fin ...

'' magazine profile mentions Oliver's study of "yoga philosophy and breathing," yoga became a central focus of her life four years later when she met

. Yogi Bhajan renamed her "Krishna Kaur," meaning Divine Princess. Under his direction, she became a yoga teacher with a special dispensation to serve the Black community. Krishna Kaur established a yoga community in the

Watts, Los Angeles Watts is a neighborhood in southern Los Angeles, California. It is located within the South Los Angeles region, bordering the cities of Lynwood, Huntington Park and South Gate to the east and southeast, respectively, and the unincorporated co ...

neighborhood, including a live-in center, a children's school, daycare, a twice weekly free kitchen, and "Sat Nam Street Players" who aimed to bring music and inspiration to marginalized communities in the area. Krishna Kaur described her philosophy regarding her yoga mission: "The revolution is really one of the mind. Blacks have got to realize where the power really is. The struggle is not on a physical level. It is on the level of the mind." Krishna Kaur traveled to the spiritual capital of

Amritsar Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-List of cities in Punjab, India by population, largest city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportatio ...

and the "Golden Temple" or

Harimandir Sahib The Golden Temple is a gurdwara located in Amritsar, Punjab, India. It is the pre-eminent spiritual site of Sikhism. It is one of the holiest sites in Sikhism, alongside the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Kartarpur, and Gurdwara Janam ...

in December 1970. In August 1980, she became the first woman recorded singing Sikh hymns within the precincts of the Golden Temple. In the 1990s, Krishna Kaur was involved in founding the International Black Yoga Teachers Association. She also started Yoga for Youth, which aims to serve young people in the U.S. criminal justice system. Krishna Kaur is currently the chairman of the Yoga for Youth board. Krishna Kaur has continued performing musically. In the 1970s, she toured and recorded with a group called "Sat Nam West." In 2014, she released an album, ''One Creator''.

Filmography

* ''

'' (1958) * ''

'' (1961) * ''

'' (1964) * ''

'' (1964)

References

External links