Kaunda Selisho

By Kaunda Selisho

Journalist


Tributes pour in for actor, writer, composer Sam Phillips

The actor died, aged 72, after a recent hospital stay.


Fellow actors, fans and online blogs have been sharing their tributes in honour of South African actor, writer, music composer and producer Dr Sam Phillips.

This after new of Phillips’ death proliferated social media on Saturday following a tweet from his daughter, Mpumi.

“Today you said goodbye,” she tweeted.

Although Phillips had recently been admitted to hospital, according to Mpumi, his cause of death is yet to be confirmed.

Phillips was 72 years old at the time of his passing and had recently starred in Netflix production Kings of Joburg in the role of the Masire family patriarch.

According to his acting credits, as listed by TVSA, Phillips has collaborated with Connie and Shona Ferguson before.

Between 2011 and 2012, he starred as Kgosi Rratladi Tladi, the wise chief of the Tladi clan, in the M-Net soap opera The Wild. He went on to play the role of Tiro, Harriet’s (Connie Ferguson) father on the Mzansi Magic drama, The Queen.

His acting career began in the theatre space back when he attended Langa High School in Cape Town.

In his twenties, he joined the non-racial People’s Space Theatre in 1974 and starred in the first multi-racial production Lysistrata at the Space.

He moved to Johannesburg in the ’80s when he decided to make the switch and join the television industry, starring in various shows on TV channel TV 2.

In the early ’90s, Phillips snagged an Oscar nomination for his role as the lead in Senzeni Na? The production was nominated for Best Short Story with the American Film Institution (AFI).

RELATED: Condolences pour in following musician Kori Moraba’s passing

News of Phillips’ death comes after a week of headlines about the passing of actress Lindiwe Ndlovu, street culture icon Wandile Nzimande and Ukhozi FM station manager Welcome Nzimande.

READ NEXT: Tributes pour in for Ukhozi FM’s ‘Bhodloza’ Nzimande

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