Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi(1928-2023)

The producers of Zulu (1964) visited him in 1963 to discuss hiring extras, but then offered him the role of the Zulu King Cetshwayo, his own great-grandfather.

In a sense we forgot we were in this country at the time. Whites and blacks could mingle without any fuss. You might say it was a very small thing but for this country, which was so racist at the time, it was something of great significance for us. The film helped restore to pride about where we come from - about how our people resisted the mightiest army in the world at the time, even though we were poorly equipped with cow-hide shields and spears. [commenting in 2014 on the filming of Zulu during apartheid]