Leleti Khumalo
Biography
Leleti Khumalo is a South African actress who began performing with a youth dance group before taking the lead in Mbongeni Ngema's musical Sarafina!. Born in KwaMashu, north of Durban, she auditioned for the production in 1985, and Ngema wrote the part of Sarafina for her. She performed the part on South African stages and on Broadway, earning a Tony nomination in 1988 for Best Actress in a Musical and an NAACP Image Award for Best Stage Actress in 1987. In 1992 she starred in the film Sarafina! with Whoopi Goldberg, Miriam Makeba and John Kani. Her later films include Hotel Rwanda (2004), Yesterday (2004) and Invictus (2009), while on television she appeared in Generations, Uzalo and Imbewu. She received an honorary doctorate from Rhodes University in 2026.
56years old
Turns 57 on March 30in 166 days
- Born Durban
- Star sign: AriesThe sign runs March 21 to April 19
Movie Career
- Films
- 4
- Career span
- 18 years1992 to 2010
Every film, newest first
- 2010Africa UnitedIMDb rating 6.5
- 2009InvictusIMDb rating 7.3
- 2004Hotel RwandaIMDb rating 8.1
- 1992Sarafina!IMDb rating 6.4
Genres
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Big break
Leleti Khumalo was cast as Sarafina in Mbongeni Ngema's musical after auditioning in 1985, and Ngema wrote the lead character specifically for her.
Leleti Khumalo movies on Netflix
Worked with
Leleti Khumalo shares two films with Tony Kgoroge, and one with each of the others. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Tony Kgoroge's page
Patrick Mofokeng's page
Morgan Freeman's page
Whoopi Goldberg's page
Matt Damon's page
Nick Nolte's page
All films by Terry George
All films by Clint Eastwood
Darrell RoodtDirector, 1 film, 1992
All films by Darrell Roodt
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.