Minah Bird
Detail of photo by Lewis Morley (1970)
© National Portrait Gallery
Born
Minah Ogbenyealu Bird

(1950-03-11)11 March 1950
Nigeria
DiedJuly 1995
Other namesMinah Uko

Minah Ogbenyealu Bird (also known as Mynah Bird and Minah Uko) (11 March 1950 – July 1995) [1] was a Nigerian model and actress active in the United Kingdom in the 1970s.[2][3]

Biography

Bird was born in from Aba in Nigeria and was educated in Nigeria and Finland.[4]

She appeared in several UK films of the 1970s.

Described as the "only major black starlet in British sex films",[5] she vanished from public view from the late 1970s and was found dead in her London council flat, a few weeks after suffering an apparent heart attack in 1995.[5][6][7]

Bird was listed as one of the "top black fashion models who paved the way for black women in fashion" alongside Iman and Grace Jones.[8]

She appeared on the cover of Oz magazine in November 1970.[9] She is credited with a series in the Sunday Mirror in the mid 70s that birthed the trend of Kiss N Tell stories in newspapers.[7][10]

Filmography

Year Film Role
1971 Up Pompeii Girl bather (uncredited)
1972 The Love Box (aka Lovebox) Black girl ("New Colours" segment)
Four Dimensions of Greta Cynthia
Layout for 5 Models Maria
1974 Percy's Progress Miss America
Vampira aka Old Dracula Rose
It's Not the Size That Counts Maria
1976 Alfie Darling Gloria
1978 The Stud Molly
Play For Today (BBC TV) S9.E2: "Victims of Apartheid" Clara
1979 The London Connection Narcotics agent
A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square Mavis (final film role)

References

  1. ^ "National Portrait Gallery - Person - Minah Ogbenyealu Bird".
  2. ^ "Minah Bird". BFI. Archived from the original on 21 July 2012.
  3. ^ Jennings, Michael-John. "This month in the Times photographic archive: October 2020". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  4. ^ Drum: A Magazine of Africa for Africa. African Drum Publications. 1971.
  5. ^ a b Bourne, Stephen (30 November 2001). Black in the British Frame: The Black Experience in British Film and Television Second Edition. A&C Black. ISBN 978-0-8264-5539-0.
  6. ^ Gutowski, Gene (4 August 2011). With Balls and Chutzpah. iUniverse. ISBN 9781462002740.
  7. ^ a b Laud, Derek (27 January 2015). The Problem With Immigrants. Biteback Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84954-877-9.
  8. ^ Zartosht, Shahin (27 January 2021). MODELING by Shahin Zartosht: A guide to becoming a Model. Shahin Zartosht. ISBN 979-8-7012-4573-8.
  9. ^ "Hippie Hippie Shake by Richard Neville".
  10. ^ "Have super-injunctions killed the kiss'n'tell?". the Guardian. 20 April 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2021.


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