OBITUARY | The real Jamie Bartlett wasn’t Mike O’Riley or David Genaro
Apartheid and black-and-white assumptions couldn’t contain the spirit of a versatile actor with a huge presence and energy
I could not believe my rookie luck when brilliant African actor Jamie Bartlett, perhaps better known as David Genaro (Rhythm City) and Mike O’Riley (Isidingo), characters that made him a household name and recognisable face across the continent, stopped me at Poppy’s in Melville, in 2012 or thereabouts, planted himself next to me and talked to me about the technicalities of speech and drama. Honestly, my passion for broadcast journalism was never and still is not about having my voice or face recognised. I am simply obsessed about the issues that I broadcast and write about. So, when someone larger than life like Bartlett sat down to tell me about my radio show that he had been listening to, I was smiling from ear to ear, a superfan trying hard to be nonchalant but failing...
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