Yvonne Cherrie (also known as Monalisa, born August 19, 1981) is a

Tanzanian Demographic features of the population of Tanzania include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the population. The population distribution in Tan ...

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. In 2010 she won

Zanzibar International Film Festival Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF), also known as Festival of the Dhow Countries, is an annual film festival held in Zanzibar, Tanzania and one of the largest cultural events in East Africa. ZIFF is a non-governmental organization establis ...

for the 'Best Actress' award. She was also nominated for

2011 Nigeria Entertainment Awards The 2011 Nigeria Entertainment Awards was the 6th edition of the ceremony to reward outstanding contribution to Nigerian entertainment industry. It was held at Sharp Theater, Symphony Space, New York City on September 5, 2011. It was hosted by Funk ...

for Pan African Actress Of The Year. She is cited as one of the best actresses and pioneers in the movie industry of Tanzania. She is also the founder of Act With Monalisa foundation which focus on to mentor and support young Tanzanian women with acting career guidance and a platform to showcase their talents and Director of African Women Arts and Film Festival (AWAFFEST).

Early life and education

Cherrie was born on August 19, 1981, at Muhimbili, the national hospital of

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

. Her mother, Suzan Lewis, is also an actress. She had her early education at

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Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

where her father was working; she later returned to

and started her primary education at Muungano Primary School in

Temeke Temeke District, officially the Temeke Municipal Council (''Halimashauri ya Manispaa ya Temeke'', in Swahili) is one of five districts of the Dar es Salaam Region of Tanzania. Temeke is bordered to the south by the Mkuranga District of the Pw ...

Dar Es Salaam Dar es Salaam (, ; from ) is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of the Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over 7 million people, Dar es Salaam is the largest city in East Africa by population and the ...

and she had secondary education at Zanaki Girls High School before heading to Tanzania Public Service College where she studied secretarial studies. In 2002 she joined

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

Tanzania for Pre Advance level to study English language course, and after that she joined Wilnag Media Training College in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

where she graduated with a diploma in

mass communication Mass communication is the process of imparting and exchanging information through mass media to large population segments. It utilizes various forms of media as technology has made the dissemination of information more efficient. Primary examples o ...

Career

She got her nickname “Monalisa” from her 1998 performance as a young lady, struggling to reconcile her life with her multiple lovers, in the series ''Mambo Hayo''. In 2002 Monalisa made her first feature film debut in the film called ''Girlfriend'' where she played as Tumpale a TID'S girlfriend Tumpale who is forced to turn her life around after being kicked out by her dad . She then played roles in many movies, such as ''Sabrina'' (2003), ''Dilemma'' (2004), ''She Is My Sister'' (2006), ''Kwa Heshima Ya Penzi'', ''Binti Nusa'' and ''Network''. One of her notable performances is from ''Black Sunday'' that earned her the 'Best Actress' award for the 2010

and nomination for Pan African Actress of The year

Filmography

TV series

Stage Plays

Film

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cherrie, Yvonne Living people 1981 births People from Dar es Salaam Tanzanian television actresses Tanzanian stage actresses Tanzanian film actresses Tanzanian actresses 20th-century Tanzanian actresses 21st-century Tanzanian actresses