Biography

Dawn Thandeka King's rise to fame, can be attributed to her role as Lindiwe Xulu aka Mangcobo, on South Africa's most watched TV soapie, Uzalo, on SABC 1. With the soapie drawing over 10 million daily viewers, her controversial yet charismatic depiction of her character Mangcobo, from Season 1 until her dramatic exit in Season 8, made Dawn Thandeka King, one of the most loved actresses in South Africa, fetching multiple nominations for her role, in the Simon Mabhunu Sabela Film & TV Awards, South African Film & TV Awards & the KZN Entertainment Awards.   

 

Parallel to her role on Uzalo, Dawn received an opportunity for a role as Zandile Mkhwanazi aka Mazet, on Mzansi Magic's controversial all-female prison drama, Lockdown, which ran for 5 seasons. Her character soon became just as popular, as she nabbed one of South Africa's most coveted accolades in the South African Film & TV Awards (SAFTA's); Best Actress in a TV Drama, in 2019, adding to her collection of awards from the Simon Mabhubu Sabela Film & TV Awards, Royalty Soapie Awards and the KZN Entertainment Awards.

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Dawn's most recent work includes her role on Mzansi Magic's Diep City, where she played the role of Mashenge as well as many other projects such as SLAY on Netflix in 2020, MISFITS in 2022, SHAKA ILEMBE filmed in 2022 and released in 2023, NKALAKATHA-The Mandoza Story and ISITHA 2023.

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Although Dawn is mostly known for her most popular and recent roles, on Uzalo, Lockdown and Diep City, her acting career in television was catapulted by a cameo role on Mzansi Magic's Inkaba in 2012.

 

Born in Kwazulu Natal, Dawn completed her schooling at Little Flower Primary School and Sunnydale High School in Eshowe, where she discovered her love for acting through being part of many school and church plays.

 

After completing her matric at Excelsior SSS in Umtata, where she lived for a brief period, but quickly grasped the Xhosa dialect, Dawn returned to Durban to complete her Drama studies at the then Natal Technikon. Here is where her passion would forever be entrenched in acting, as she starred in many plays, including Peace in the Valley, which debuted at The Playhouse Theatre in 2000 and was directed by one of KZN's most prolific playwrights' Jerry Pooe.

 

Amongst many of her talents, Dawn is an experienced Radio Actress, Multi-lingual MC, Motivational Speaker, Programme Director, Radio Co-Host, Indigenous Musician and also runs her own crocheted hat brand, Izandla by Dawn Thandeka King.

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The crocheted hat line- "Izandla by Dawn Thandeka King" is one of Dawn's many passion projects. Each hat piece, is hand-made personally, by Dawn Thandeka King herself; which makes this collection even more special. These hand-made, crocheted hats, are available for sale through various social media platforms and websites. The details are available on her official social media platforms.

 

             

                        Official Social Media Platforms

    Instagram 2, 3 Million Followers: @dawnthandeka_king

    Facebook: 1 500 000 Followers : Dawn Thandeka King-Personality

    Twitter : 267 000 Followers @DawnTKing

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