Pamela Nomvete (born 1963) is an Ethiopian-born South African/British actress.

Life

Pamela Nomvete was born in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

to South African parents. She spent her childhood in many different countries, and attended boarding school in the United Kingdom, later studying at the

Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama () is a conservatoire located in Cardiff, Wales. It has three theatres: the Richard Burton Theatre, the Bute Theatre, and the Caird Studio. It also includes one concert hall, the Dora Stoutzker Hall, and ...

. At one point she lived in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, where her sister was a student.South African actress Pamela Nomvete shares her incredible story
jacaranda fm, September 19, 2018. After working as an actress in the United Kingdom, Nomvete moved to

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in 1994, after the election of

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 ...

as president and the formal end of apartheid. In the 1990s, Nomvete embarked on a television career, achieving fame in the South African soap opera ''

Generations A generation is all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively. Generation or generations may also refer to: Science and technology * Generation (particle physics), a division of the elementary particles * Genera ...

''. Her character Ntsiki Lukhele was "TV's ultimate super-bitch: power-hungry, manipulative and deadly".Eddie Maluleke Kalili
Generations’ Ntsiki spills the beans
''YOU'', 25 January 2013. However, Nomvete herself struggled with depression after her husband's infidelity and her divorce. As her life unravelled, at one point she was living in her car, selling clothes for food and cigarettes. In '' Zulu Love Letter'' (2004), Nomvete played Thandeka, a single mother and journalist struggling to communicate with her thirteen-year-old daughter. While pregnant with her child, Thandeka was tortured by an Apartheid hit squad, which she believes left the child

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

. Nomvete's performance won her a

FESPACO The Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (, or FESPACO) is a film festival in Burkina Faso, held biennially in Ouagadougou, where the organization is based. It accepts for competition only films by African filmmakers and chief ...

Best Actress Award in 2005. In 2012–13, she appeared in the long-running UK soap opera ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

'', playing Mandy Kamara, an old flame of the character

Lloyd Mullaney Lloyd Mullaney is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', played by Craig Charles. He made his first on-screen appearance on 20 June 2005. The character departed on 23 July 2006, while Charles was suspended ...

(played by

Craig Charles Craig Joseph Charles (born 11 July 1964) is an English actor, comedian and radio presenter. He is best known for his roles as Dave Lister in the science fiction sitcom ''Red Dwarf'' and Lloyd Mullaney in the soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (2 ...

). It would later be discovered that Lloyd was the biological father of Mandy's daughter Jenna. In 2013 she published an autobiography, ''Dancing to the Beat of the Drum: In Search of My Spiritual Home''. Nomvete practices

Nichiren Buddhism Nichiren Buddhism (), also known as ''Hokkeshū'' (, meaning ''Lotus Sect''), is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282) and is one of the Kamakura period school ...

. In 2023, Nomvete voiced Ntsiki Lukhele in the animated series '' Supa Team 4''.

Film appearances

* '' Born Free: A New Adventure'', 1996 * '' Zulu Love Letter'', 2004 * ''

Sometimes in April ''Sometimes in April'' is a 2005 American made-for-television historical drama film about the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, written and directed by the Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck. The ensemble cast includes Idris Elba, Oris Erhuero, Carole Karemera ...

'', 2005 * ''

Lockdown A lockdown () is a restriction policy for people, community or a country to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely. The term is used for a prison protocol that us ...

'', 2021

Television appearances

* '' Andor'', 2022

Stage appearances

* ''Now or Later'' by

Christopher Shinn Christopher Shinn (born 1975) is an American playwright. His play ''Dying City'' (2006) was a finalist for the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and ''Where Do We Live'' (2004) won the 2005 Obie Award, Playwriting. Early life Shinn was born in Har ...

at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...

, 2008 * '' Welcome to Thebes'' by

Moira Buffini Moira Buffini (born 29 May 1965) is an English dramatist, director, and actor. Early life Buffini was born in Cheshire to Irish parents, and attended St Mary's College at Rhos-on-Sea in Wales as a day girl. She studied English and Drama at Gold ...

at the

Royal National Theatre The National Theatre (NT), officially the Royal National Theatre and sometimes referred to in international contexts as the National Theatre of Great Britain, is a performing arts venue and associated theatre company located in London, England, ...

, 2010 * ''

Coriolanus ''Coriolanus'' ( or ) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus. Shakespeare worked on it during the same ...

'' by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

at the

, 2024 as Volumina

References

External links

*
Pamela Nomvete Pamela Nomvete
'' Encyclopaedia of South African Theatre, Film, Media and Performance (ESAT)''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nomvete, Pamela 1963 births Living people South African soap opera actresses South African film actresses, South African stage actresses Ethiopian emigrants to South Africa 20th-century South African actresses 21st-century South African actresses Alumni of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama British Nichiren Buddhists South African Buddhists