Sizwe Sibiya
Actor Jamie Bartlett, famous for his role in the eTV drama series Rhythm City, died of a heart attack on Monday evening while taking a nap, his partner Rosa Onious has confirmed.
“We got the autopsy results, and they said it was cardiac arrest,” Onious, who was with Bartlett when he died, told Channel 24 on Wednesday.
Onious had called an ambulance after seeing that the 55-year-old was not waking up when she repeatedly called his name.
“They tried everything to resuscitate him, CPR, everything, but it was too late,” she said.
Bartlett played the villain David Genaro, who most fans loved to hate, for 13 years on Rhythm City. The role earned him three South African Film & Television Awards (Saftas), including the award for Best Actor in 2019. He had already left Rhythm City in February 2020, a year before the drama series was dropped by the station in July 2021.
“He was a force on Rhythm City and in our lives. He wasn’t exactly like David Genaro, but he was certainly intense and passionate like David Genaro,” recalled Rhythm City executive producer Harriet Gavshon, speaking to EWN.
The iconic actor also featured in another famous SABC 3 soapie, Isidingo, in the late 1990s.
Bartlett starred in many movies, including Hollywood films like the 1987 American Ninja 2: The Confrontation and the 2013 Nelson Mandela biopic Long Walk to Freedom.
He will be laid to rest on a date which will be announced soon by his family.
