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Shonka Dureh is not a household name. But she steals a scene in Baz Luhrmann’s summer hit, “Elvis,” playing Big Mama Thornton. She sings Elvis’s first hit, “Hound Dog,” which inspires the singer to cover it.
Now comes a report that Dureh, 44, has been found dead in her Nashville apartment. According to a report from the Tennessean, Dureh was discovered by her two young children. They say so far police do not suspect foul play.
She’s also featured on the “Elvis” soundtrack singing with Doja Cat.
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Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009, where he covered Michael Jackson, and previously wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine in the mid-1990s, where he covered the O.J. Simpson trial. He also edited Fame magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.
