Shaleen Surtie-Richards (7 May 1955 – 7 June 2021) was a South African television, stage, and film actress, perhaps best known for her starring roles in the 1988 film '' Fiela se Kind'' and the long-running series '' Egoli: Place of Gold.'' She performed in both

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

and English.

Early life and career

Surtie-Richards was born in

Upington Upington () is a town founded in 1873 and located in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, on the banks of the Orange River. The town was originally called Olijvenhoutsdrift ('Olive wood drift'), due to the abundance of olive wood trees i ...

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope (), commonly referred to as the Cape Province () and colloquially as The Cape (), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa. It encompassed the old Cape Co ...

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa (; , ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day South Africa, Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the British Cape Colony, Cape, Colony of Natal, Natal, Tra ...

, on 7 May 1955 and attended school both there and in Cape Town. Her father was a school principal, and her mother was a teacher. Despite growing up during the

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 ...

era, she has stated that her background was not a disadvantaged one. As a child, when a local music school would not admit her because of her colour, her father bought her a piano and hired a teacher. She also took ballet and tennis classes. Qualifying as a kindergarten teacher, Surtie-Richards taught in Upington and Cape Town between 1974 and 1984. She took many roles in several amateur stage productions between 1974 and 1981 and was also active in productions of the South African Department of Education's Theatre-in-Education from 1982 to 1984. She launched her professional acting career in 1984.

Television career

Surtie-Richards had a starring role in '' Egoli: Place of Gold''. She appeared in most of the show's 18-year run as Ester (Nenna) Willemse. She also appeared in a number of other South African television programmes, including the soap opera's ''

7de Laan ''7de Laan'' is a South African Afrikaans soap opera created by Danie Odendaal and produced by Danie Odendaal Productions. The series focuses on the lives of residents in and around the community of 7de Laan (7th Avenue), in the suburb of Hill ...

'', ''Villa Rosa'', and '' Generations''. In 2000, she hosted her own talk show, ''Shaleen'', on South Africa's

M-Net M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

channel. Surtie-Richards was also a judge on the reality competition television series ''Supersterre'' from 2006 to 2010. In 2013, she appeared as one of the "roasters" in ''The Comedy Central Roast of

Steve Hofmeyr Steve Hofmeyr (born 29 August 1964) is a South African musician, writer and actor known for his prominence in the Afrikaans music scene. Outside of music, he is best known for his long-running role as Doug Durand on Egoli: Place of Gold, as well ...

'', the inaugural roast conducted by the Comedy Central South Africa channel, which was hosted by Trevor Noah.

Film career

Surtie-Richards played starring or supporting roles in the following films: * '' Fiela se Kind'' (1988) * '' Mama Jack'' (2005) * ''Egoli: Afrikaners Is Plesierig'' (2010) * ''Knysna'' (2014) * ''Treurgrond'' (2015) * ''Twee Grade van Moord'' (2016) * ''Vaselinetjie'' (2017) *Slay (2021)

Theatre career

Surtie-Richards appeared on stage throughout South Africa and in London. She also appeared at major theatre and arts festivals in South Africa and abroad, including the Aardklop Festival, the Klein Karoo Festival, the Grahamstown Festival, Suidoosterfees, and the

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

. She appeared on stage in works by

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 natio ...

Willy Russell William Russell (born 23 August 1946) is an English dramatist, lyricist and composer. His best known works are '' Educating Rita'', '' Shirley Valentine'', '' Blood Brothers'' and '' Our Day Out''. Early life Russell was born in Whiston, Lanc ...

Athol Fugard Harold Athol Lanigan Fugard (; 11 June 19328 March 2025) was a South African playwright, novelist, actor and director. Widely regarded as South Africa's greatest playwright and acclaimed as "the greatest active playwright in the English-speaki ...

, and Pieter-Dirk Uys.

Awards

During her career, Surtie-Richards won more than 40 awards. Surtie-Richards won the Best Actress Award at the 1985 Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards for her role as Hester in

's ''Hallo en Koebaai (Hello and Goodbye).'' In 2009, she won another Fleur du Cap Award for her 2008 performance in ''Shirley Valentine.'' In 2008, for her performance in ''Shirley Valentine,'' she also won the Herrie Prize for most popular production at the Klein Karoo Arts Festival. At the 2014 Royalty Soapie Awards, Surtie-Richards received the Lifetime Achievement Award for her 30-year contribution to television and her roles on series such as ''Egoli: Place of Gold, Generations,'' and ''7de Laan.'' Surtie-Richards was also nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress for her role in ''Villa Rosa'' at the 2014 awards. Surtie-Richards was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2015 Naledi Theatre Awards.

Death

Surtie-Richards died on 7 June 2021, aged 66. She died during the night in her sleep and had been suffering from multiple health issues. Her family have denied rumours that her death was a result of suicide.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Surtie-Richards, Shallen 1955 births 2021 deaths South African film actresses South African television actresses People from Upington 20th-century South African actresses 21st-century South African actresses South African stage actresses