Shunka Dokore, the actress who sang ‘Hound Dog’ in Elvis, has died at the age of 44

Shunka Ducoure, who made her Hollywood debut as famous blues singer Big Mama Thornton in “Elvis,” was found dead Thursday in Nashville. She was 44 years old.

The Nashville Metropolitan Police Department confirmed the death but did not give a cause, saying only that there was no evidence of wrongdoing. Police said one of Ms Dkoure’s two children found her unresponsive in her bedroom Thursday morning and ran to alert a neighbor who called 911.

“Elvis,” director Baz Luhrmann’s long-awaited film about the life of Elvis Presley, with Austin Butler in the title role and Tom Hanks as Presley’s manager, Tom Parker, opened in June. Big Mama Thornton, who recorded the original version of “Hound Dog” in 1952, a year before Presley had success with it, was Ms. Ducouret’s first major acting role. In Thornton, she found a role that blended her booming voice with her seemingly budding acting chops.

Her performance of “Hound Dog” especially captivated audiences. She was planning to release a studio album called “The Lady Sings the Blues,” according to her her website.

Ms. Ducouret said she’s from Nashville “via Charlotte, NC,” where she was born on September 3, 1977. She originally planned to become a teacher and earned a master’s degree in education from Trevika Nazarene University, according to her website (which says she also holds a degree). BA in Theater from Fisk University). Instead I pursued the arts. Her powerful voice has been heard on international tours with Jimmy Liddell and the Royal Pharaohs, and she has been a featured singer on many albums.

Her performance in “Elvis” quickly gained her fans. Including her fellow cast members. Olivia Dejong, who played Priscilla Presley in the movie, He told Entertainment Weekly Watching Mrs. Dokura “was a spiritual experience”.

“To basically watch a star being born, to have something in it was kind of liberating, it was just — it was crazy to watch,” Ms. Dejong said.

No information was immediately available on survivors.