The entertainment industry has been hit by another tragedy, this time it’s the death of popular actor Jamie Bartlett who is better known as David Genaro from the local soapie Rhythm City.
The news of passing of the 55-year-old award winning actor was shared by his family on ENCA on Monday evening 23 May. Bartlett will be remembered for his villainous along with us use of puns when he played the role of David Genaro on Rhythm City and for playing Mike O’Reilly in SABC3’s Isidingo.
Corporate communications manager for eMedia, Bennum van Jaarsveld, confirmed that Bartlett passed away. “We had confirmation from a close family member that Jamie has passed. We will have more information in the morning.”
The details around the cause of the passing are not known as yet.
South Africans flooded social media to send their tributes one of South Africa’s most loved actors, after news broke out of his passing. Here are some of the tweets shared:
A tweet from YaseBlock B @ThisIsColbert reads: “His acting skills, his ability to transform into a character without leaving any trace of his own self, UNMATCHED…Absolute perfection.”
A tweet from icrush yako @fatsoo_ reads: “you knew the episode banged when it ended with a David Genaro song.”
A Tweet from Ntokozo @ntokozojohnson reads: “So happy to have lived during the David Genaro era. What an actor, truly the best to do it.”
A tweet from Charlize Mane @TablecharmG reads: “The baddest actor SA has ever had, By far the best. Can’t believe he is no more. Very sad day. Rest in peace Jamie Bartlett our David Genaro.”
Source: Times Live, The Citizen, The South African, image from Twitter