Dorothy Steel, who played a tribal elder in the film Black Panther, died at the age of 95. Steel died on Friday morning at her Detroit home, according to her agent, Cindy Butler who informed People. There was no mention of a cause of death. Steel was in the middle of filming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the highly anticipated sequel to the 2018 superhero blockbuster.
The film began production in Atlanta this June, when she died, Steel was rushed back to Detroit to be with her family. She made her feature film debut in Black Panther as an elder of the Merchant Tribe. Her agent, Cindy Butler, also announced the news on Facebook, stating that the actress passed away at her home in Detroit on Friday morning.
Steel was born in 1926 and didn’t start performing until she was 88 years old. Her early credits include an episode of The Trouble With Going Somewhere, the television movie Merry Christmas, Baby, and the feature Daisy Winters. Steel was born in Detroit in 1926 and lived in Atlanta. She won her first-ever job as a tribal elder who gave knowledge to King T’Challa, played by the late Chadwick Boseman, fulfilling a lifelong goal. She did, however, play a minor role in Jumanji: The Next Level.
