Elvis actress Shonka Dukureh found dead at home

Shonka Dukureh, who played Big Mama Thornton in this year’s movie about Elvis Presley, has been found dead in a bedroom at her home in Nashville, police said.

Police said there were no signs of foul play. Post-mortem results are pending from the medical examiner.

Dukureh, a 44-year-old Nashville singer, shared the apartment with her two young children, police said.

One of the children found her unresponsive and went to the apartment of a neighbour, who called emergency services.

The actor, who also shared the stage at Coachella this year with Doja Cat, had a theatre degree from Fisk University in Nashville and graduated from Trevecca Nazarene with an education degree, WPLN-FM reported.

In an interview with the station last month, Dukureh said she taught year two pupils for a while and then worked with inner city youth through after-school and summer programmes.

She said those students reached out after seeing her in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic.