Charlbi Dean, the South African actress and model who starred in "Triangle of Sadness," died Monday in a New York City hospital of a sudden illness at the age of 32, Variety confirmed Tuesday.

The actress was part of the cast of the film " Triangle of Sadness ", which was awarded the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

Born and raised in Cape Town, Dean signed with a modeling agency at the age of 12 and made her acting debut in the film Spud. She was probably best known for her performance in the series "Black Lightning".

Other films include Death Race 3: Inferno, Blood in the Water, Don't Sleep and Porthole. As a model she has posed for magazines including the South African editions of GQ and Elle.

She was engaged to model Luke Volker.