Shonka Dukureh Found Dead at 44

• Shonka Dukureh was best known for playing Big Mama Thornton in last month’s film Elvis
• She was found dead Thursday morning in the bedroom of her Nashville apartment.
• One of her children found her unresponsive and ran to a neighbor’s apartment to call 911.

Shonka Dukureh, a singer and actress best known for playing Big Mama Thornton in last month’s Baz Luhrmann film Elvis, has died. She was 44.

Metro Nashville Police Department said Dukureh was discovered dead Thursday morning in her Kothe Way residence. One of her children discovered her unconscious and called 911.

Police say they don’t think her death was caused by foul play, so it has been marked as “unclassified” while they wait for the results of an autopsy from the Medical Examiner’s Office. No more information has been given out.

Her website says that Dukureh was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, but grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. She went to Fisk University and got a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre there. She also had a Master’s degree in Education from Trevecca Nazarene University. She got this degree because she wanted to be a teacher at first, but then she decided to go into the performing arts instead.

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