Guthrie Graham Tainton (17 September 1927 – 6 December 2024) was a South African-born Swedish dancer and choreographer.

Life and career

Tainton was born in South Africa on 17 September 1927. He came to Sweden in 1959 with a large music ensemble, ''The Golden City Dixies''. Tainton was

ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...

's choreographer, and later appeared in UR's ''Living Room'' where he accounted for his early years in South Africa with

Desmond Tutu Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop ...

as his priest and

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

the lawyer who got him out of prison under

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

. He was also in the jury and appeared on a Swedish TV show called ''Floor Filler''. In 2016, 88-year-old Tainton was honoured and interviewed on the popular

Let's Dance (Swedish TV series) ''Let's Dance'' is a Swedish dance competition featuring Swedish celebrities. It is the Swedish version of the British reality TV competition ''Strictly Come Dancing'' and is part of the ''Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (wid ...

. Tainton married Swedish Lill Sjöström in 1962 and they had a daughter

Blossom Tainton-Lindquist Blossom Alexandra Liliana Tainton-Lindquist (born 29 June 1962 in Stockholm) is a Swedish singer, dancer, publisher, fitness coach and personal trainer. Her father, Graham Tainton, is a choreographer. Tainton danced and sang at an early age. She ...

that year. With his second wife Kristina Palmgren, also Swedish, he was the father of entertainment celebrities Kelly Tainton, Themba Tainton and David Tainton. Tainton was a cousin of

Miriam Makeba Zenzile Miriam Makeba ( , ; 4 March 1932 – 9 November 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including African popular music, Afropop, ja ...

. He died on 6 December 2024, at the age of 97, residing in

Hägersten Hägersten (''Heronstone'') is an Urban districts of Sweden, urban district of Stockholm. It is located in the borough of Hägersten-Liljeholmen, which was formed 1 January 2007 by merging the former boroughs of Hägersten and Liljeholmen. Referen ...

, Stockholm, Sweden.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tainton, Graham 1927 births 2024 deaths South African choreographers Swedish choreographers South African emigrants to Sweden ABBA