Veteran Multi-Award Winning Actor Jamie Bartlett Has Passed Away, Aged 55

James Bartlett (9 July 1966 – 23 May 2022) was a British-born South African actor best known for his role as the wicked puppet master, David Genaro, in Rhythm City and his theatre work.Veteran multi-award-winning actor Jamie Bartlett has passed away, aged 55. Best known for his role as David Genaro on the eTV soapie Rhythm City. #RIPJamieBartlettVeteran actor Jamie Bartlett best known for his role as David Genaro on soapie Rhythm City has died aged 55.

Jamie Bartlett’s death was confirmed by the news channel eNCA on Monday night.

According to eNCA, though the veteran actor’s death was confirmed by a close family member, his cause of death is still to be revealed.

Bartlett is best known for his role as the wicked puppet master, David Genaro, on Rhythm City.

The role of David Genaro made Bartlett famous across Africa, as Rythm City aired in many African countries such as Kenya, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Cameroon, Malawi and Ghana.

He also won three SAFTAs ( South African Film and Television Awards) for the iconic role.

He left Rhythm City towards the end of 2019 after his character David Genaro was written out of the show. He made his final appearance on 5 February 2020 when Genaro was shot.

Bartlett was a well-known and multi-faceted South African actor prior to starring in Rhythm City. He started playing his role as David Genaro in 2007. He was the first person to speak in scene 1 of the TV series Isidingo as the character Mike O’Riley when it was aired on South African television. On the set of Isidingo, he acted opposite Hlomla Dandala who acted as Derek Nyathi.

In 1997, Bartlett acted in the action MNET movie made for TV- The Sexy Girls . The gang-movie genre showcased the realities of gangster life in Cape Town.

Bartlett also guest-starred in the South African, Canadian TV series Jozi-H, a hospital drama set in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was also a judge on SA’s Got Talent alongside Shadow Twala and DJ Fresh.