Disney movies star NIKITA PEARL WALIGWA dies at 15
An actress who starred in the Queen of Katwe, a Disney film about a chess prodigy from a Ugandan slum, has died at the age of fifteen.
NIKITA PEARL WALIGWA had been diagnosed with a brain tumour.
The 2016 film was based on the true story of PHIONA MUTESI, who took up chess at the age of nine despite not being in school and went on to compete in international tournaments.
WALIGWA played the role of GLORIA, a friend of PHIONA who explained the rules of chess to her.
She was first diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2016 and Queen of Katwe director, MIRA NAIR reportedly mobilised people to help fund her treatment in India, with Ugandan doctors quoted as saying they did not have the necessary equipment.
She was given the all-clear in 2017 but last year was found to have another tumour.
Leave a comment
Make sure you enter all the required information, indicated by an asterisk (*). HTML code is not allowed.
Follow us on Twitter
Like us on Facebook
Join us on Google+
Subscribe RSS Feeds
Contact us 
