Sophie Okonedo

Sophie Okonedo was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in Hotel Rwanda. This film told the true story of how a hotel manager and his wife (played by Sophie) saved more than 1,000 refugees from genocide during a civil war in the African nation of Rwanda. Lots of people compared it to Schindler's List, except that the war in Rwanda happened just 10 years ago.

Next, she plays Winnie Mandela, ex-wife of another African hero, Nelson Mandela. Well, in South Africa, Winnie is as big a deal as her former husband. It's a TV movie, but Nelson (played by Morgan Freeman) is in the new movie Invictus, and it's time to hear the lady's side of the story, don'tcha think? Nelson was in prison for almost 30 years for fighting against oppression, and she worked for the same cause all that time. Also on TV, Sophie's a regular on the hit crime show Criminal Justice.

Sophie's been in a few movies about children. In 2008, Sophie's hit was The Secret Life of Bees, about a girl from a troubled family who runs away to join another family... of beekeepers! Sophie also is in the movie Martian Child, with Amanda Peet. It's about a boy who keeps insisting he's from Mars, and the adults have to decide if maybe he's not lying!

And Stormbreaker, with Alicia Silvertone, is about a 14-year-old super spy. Who could believe that? We weren't super spies until we were 16! (Whoops! There goes our secret identities!)

No kids were in another project, the anime Aeon Flux, a sci-fi thriller based on a famous graphic novel.

But one movie she's less than thrilled she was in was Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls. Sophie, cheer up! Lots of stars have to be in silly movies before they get nominated for Oscars!

Sophie's mom is Jewish, her dad is Nigerian, and she was born and raised in England. Also, she's kinda tall... 5-foot-8!

Bonus:

Quite a few African-American Jews have become famous, you know.

Some have converted to Judaism, like singing actors Sammy Davis Jr. (see the Bonus here) and Nell Carter, and Chicago comic Aaron Freeman. 

Others have black and Jewish parents, like guitarists Lenny Kravitz, Ben Harper, and Slash... singers Josephine Baker and Jackie Wilson... and actresses Lisa Bonet and Rain Pryor (whose father was landmark comic Richard Pryor).

Other African-American Jews include kid star Khleo Thomas from the movie Holes, gospel singer Joshua Nelson, and author Julius Lester, who wrote award-winning books of African-American folktales.

In basketball, there are David Blumenthal of the Sacramento Kings, Jamila Wideman of the Portland Fire, and Jordan Farmar of the LA Lakers. In boxing, there are Zab Judah, champion Saoul Mamby-- and Drew Brown, who trained Muhammad Ali! And then there is baseball’s Elliott Maddox and Olymic swim champ Anthony Ervin.

In the new movie The Last King of Scotland, non-Jewish actor Forest Whitaker has a much-talked-about role as Idi Amin, the ruthless dictator of Uganda who hijacked a planeload of Jews, which was then rescued by the Israeli army. But African-American Jewish actor Yaphet Kotto played Idi Amin some 30 years ago in the film Raid on Entebbe (that's Uganda's capital city).

Bonus Bonus:

Speaking of Uganda, there are Jews there, too! In 1913, a regional governor named Semei Kakungulu converted his followers to Judaism; they call themselves the Abayudaya. They made a few CDs of their versions of Jewish prayers, and one was nominated for a Grammy!

And there are, of course, Ethiopian Jews, many of whom have moved to Israel. But there are also Jews in other African countries. Read more about Africa's Jews.