Dorothy Steel, the actress who portrayed an elder tribesperson in Black Panther, has died. The 95-year-old thespian passed away in her native Detroit after a noteworthy career.
While Steel was best known for her role as a leader in Wakanda, she also had other career credits such as Jumanji: The Next Level, Bounce TV’s Saints & Sinners and BET’s The Oval, reported Deadline.
Her agent Cindy Butler posted the sad news on Facebook last Friday, the day she died.
Steel portrayed the Merchant Elder who advised the King of Wakanda, played by the late Chadwick Boseman.
She took time to recall their sweet interactions on set “.
“Chadwick the King. Every day, he would make sure if I was on the set, he would come by and make sure he gave me a big old hug and kiss,” Steel said.
Steel was born in Detroit in 1926. Before she was an actress, we worked for the Department of Revenue and had retired.
Part of what makes her career so spectacular is that she did not enter Hollywood until the age of 8 “.
“If anyone would have told me I would be an actor, would’ve said you got to be out of your mind,” she said back in 2018.
Steel became the cast grandmother and enjoyed the experience of being a part of a Black cast doing something “so monumental at the time.”
“We were one big melting pot of black people and we knew we were doing something that had never been done before. Ya know?” she said.
At the time of her death, Steel was shooting the long-awaited Black Panther 2, which was slated to be her last acting project. The Marvel franchise flew her home to Detroit to spend her last days with her family and other loved ones.
No plans for a memorial service have been announced yet.
We are certainly keeping her family in our thoughts and hope she rests in peace.
