Moonyeenn Lee (February 1944 – 18 July 2020) was a South African casting director, talent agent and producer. She earned

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

nominations for her work on the

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

series '' The Looming Tower'' and the 2016 ''

Roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusing ...

'' remake. She became the first South African member of both the

Motion Picture A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

and Television Academies. Lee founded the talent agency Moonyeenn Lee & Associates (MLA) in 1974 and Khulisa Productions in 1998. She was awarded the Lionel Ngakane Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2017 South African Film and Television Awards.

Early and personal life

Lee was born in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

. She was named after a character from the 1932 film '' Smilin' Through''. She moved to England, where she was mostly educated, when she was 7 for her mother Shirley Hepburn's work as a stage actress whilst her father stayed behind in South Africa. She began working for a knitwear company in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

at 17. Lee and salesman Leon Lee were married for five years and divorced in 1974. The pair had a son David and a daughter Cindy. After her divorce, Lee was looking for a new career. She trained to become an agent with James Fraser of Fraser and Dunlop in England. Lee raised her children in

Parkmore Parkmore is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located in Region B of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality is a metropolitan municipality that manages the local gover ...

, who both now work in the entertainment industry. She later lived in Rosebank. Lee's agency MLA announced Lee had died at the age of 76 in

of complications related to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

on the morning of 18 July 2020. A number of actors, other industry people, and Minister of Arts and Culture

Nathi Mthethwa Emmanuel Nkosinathi "Nathi" Mthethwa is a South African politician who has served as Minister of Arts and Culture since February 2014. He was appointed again in 2019 for his second term, taking also the portfolio of Sport under his wing. He also ...

paid their tributes.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Moonyeenn Lee
at TVSA {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Moonyeenn 1944 births 2020 deaths Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa People from Johannesburg South African casting directors Women casting directors South African women company founders Talent managers