Abigail Kubeka, a South African singer, songwriter, and actor, was born on December 7, 1939. She portrays Zondiwe Mogale on the SABC television series Generations: The Legacy, the mother of Tau Mogale (Rapulana Seiphemo) and Tshidi Phakade (Letoya Makhene).
Biography profile: Abigail Kubeka
Full name: Abigail Kubheka
Date of birth: 7 December 1939 (age 83)
Place of birth: Orlando East, South Africa
Education: Missionary Boarding School in Pretoria
Height: 1.63m
Occupation: Singer, songwriter, Actress
Known for: Zondiwe Mogale on Generations: The Legacy, Mazet on Queen Sono
Alma mater: Unknown
Nationality: South African
Early life of Abigail Kubeka
Orlando East, the first official township in Soweto, is where Kubeka was born in 1941. Her father worked in a warehouse and her mother was a professional laundry worker. In Kilnerton, close to Pretoria, Kubeka attended a missionary boarding school. Khubeka showed her singing talent in school at a young age.
Sophiatown, where Kubeka spent her teenage years in the 1950s. Was a hotbed of active cultural activity. Unprecedented for South Africa, local jazz in particular and music in general had become deeply ingrained in the community. As one of the younger iconic artists that helped shape South Africa’s musical and cultural identity in the 1950s. Kubeka would develop as a performer and artist from this cultural ethos. [1]
Early Career
When Kubeka was 16 years old, Miriam Makeba offered her to join her Skylarks group, which at the time also included Letta Mbulu and Mary Rabotaba, after noticing her potential. This was the beginning of Kubeka’s career.
The Skylarks developed and popularized the marabi and mbaqanga musical genres. Alongside other bands like the Jazz Maniacs. Later, Kubeka served as the legendary Makeba’s backup singer in the well-received European tour of the renowned international jazz opera King Kong. Moreover, Kubeka performed in cabaret shows. With musical heavyweights Kippie Moeketsi and Abdullah Ibrahim (then known as Dollar Brand) in Hillbrow nightclubs in the 1960s. [2]
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Acting career and modern culture
Kubeka also established a successful acting career as a theater, screen, and television actor. She appeared in the movies The Line and Hijack. Thereafter, she appeared on stage in Des and Dawn Lindberg’s King Afrika with Henry Cele and Judy Page. As well as Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. An African American (2016), The Jakes Are Missing (2015), and The Long Run (2001), in which she sang alongside Busi Mhlongo, are just a few of the movies in which Kubeka has appeared.
Accolades in Music and Acting
The Lifetime Achievement Award went to Abigail in 2014 at the 8th annual South African Film and Television (SAFTA) awards. Then 2016 at the Wawela Music Awards (WMA) in Johannesburg, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award. Kubeka got the Lifetime Achievement Award for greatest musician and jazz industrial in the early 2000s.[3]
Filmography
- 1969 Knock-Out
- 1971 Diary of Thandi – Sis’May
- 1973 Joe Bullet – Beauty
- 1987 City of Blood Maureen
- 1990 Last Year’s Queen
- 1995 Cry, the Beloved Country -Mrs. Mkize
- 2001 The Long Run – Bar Lady
- 2001 An Activists 2: Long Walk – Madikizela
- 2010 Kasi Movies: Elalini -Anele Jong
- 2015 The Jakes Are Missing– Grace
- 2016 An African American Wajé Seleste
- 2017 Morning, Mandela
- 2018 What’s The Deal -Shantel “Abram’s’
