SA casting director and agent Moonyeenn Lee has died in Johannesburg due to complications caused by the coronavirus, her company announced on Sunday. Lee, who was born in Johannesburg in 1944, died on Saturday.
“Moonyeenn helped shape the lives of many actors, directors and writers through her fierce honesty and passion. The SA film industry has lost an icon and a formidable champion of the arts. She will be sorely missed by us all,” Moonyeenn Lee Associates (MLA SA) said in a statement.

Her 47 years in the film industry earned her a formidable reputation. MLA said Lee received the Lionel Ngakane Lifetime Achievement Award at the SA Film & Television Awards in 2017.

“A highlight in her illustrious career was when she became the first SA member of both the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which votes for the Oscars, and the Television Academy, which votes for the Emmys.”

MLA said she managed the casting of films such as The Bang Bang Club, Disgrace, the Oscar-winning Tsotsi, Fanie Fourie’s Lobola, the Oscar-nominated Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom, Hotel Rwanda, Blood Diamond; the Oscar-shortlisted Black Panther and Life, Above All.
She also managed the casting of Golden Globe nominees Machine Gun Preacher and Mandela and De Klerk; and Emmy-winning series like Homeland. Lee was nominated for two Emmy Awards for The Looming Tower and Roots.

She is survived by her daughter Cindy Lee, her son David Lee and her pets, Hitchcock, Eva and Spice.