John Kani
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Bonsile John Kani (born 1943) is a South African actor, director and playwright. He was born in New Brighton, South Africa. Kani joined The Serpent Players (a group of actors whose first performance was in the former snake pit of the zoo, hence the name) in Port Elizabeth in 1965 and helped to create many plays that went unpublished but were performed to a resounding reception. These were followed by the more famous Sizwe Banzi is Dead and The Island, co-written with Athol Fugard and Winston Ntshona, in the early 1970s. He also received an Olivier nomination for his role in My Children My Africa! Kani's work has been widely performed around the world, including New York, where he and Winston Ntshona won a Tony Award in 1975 for Sizwe Banzi Is Dead and The Island. These two plays were presented in repertory at the Edison Theatre for a total of 52 performances. Nothing but the Truth (2002) was his debut as sole playwright and was first performed in the Market Theatre in Johannesburg. This play takes place in post-apartheid South Africa and does not concern the conflicts between whites and blacks, but the rift between blacks who stayed in South Africa to fight apartheid, and those who left only to return when the hated regime folded. It won the 2003 Fleur du Cap Awards for best actor and best new South African play. In the same year he was also awarded a special Obie award for his extraordinary contribution to theatre in the USA. Kani is executive trustee of the Market Theatre Foundation, founder and director of the Market Theatre Laboratory and chairman of the National Arts Council of SA. Description above from the Wikipedia article John Kani, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Credits
- 2024 · Mufasa: The Lion King as Rafiki (voice)
- 2023 · Murder Mystery 2 as Colonel Ulenga
- 2021 · Seal Team as Brick (voice)
- 2021 · What If...? as T'Chaka (voice)
- 2021 · Marvel Studios Legends as T'Chaka (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 2019 · The Lion King as Rafiki (voice)
- 2019 · The Space: Theatre of Survival as
- 2019 · Murder Mystery as Colonel Ulenga
- 2018 · Black Panther as T'Chaka
- 2016 · Captain America: Civil War as King T'Chaka
- 2014 · 1994: The Bloody Miracle as Narrator
- 2012 · Jail Caesar as
- 2012 · Falls the Shadow: The Life and Times of Athol Fugard as Himself
- 2011 · How to Steal 2 Million as Julius Twala Snr.
- 2011 · Coriolanus as General Cominius
- 2010 · White Lion as Old Gisani
- 2009 · Nothing But The Truth as Sipho
- 2009 · Endgame as Oliver Tambo
- 2008 · Wallander as Max Khulu
- 2008 · The Bird Can't Fly as Stone
- 1998 · The Tichborne Claimant as Bogle
- 1997 · Kini & Adams as Ben
- 1996 · The Ghost and the Darkness as Samuel
- 1996 · Silent Witness as Dr. Phiri
- 1995 · Soweto Green as Dr. Curtis
- 1994 · In Darkest Hollywood: Cinema and Apartheid as Self
- 1992 · African Skies as
- 1992 · Sarafina! as School Principal
- 1990 · The Native Who Caused All the Trouble as
- 1989 · Othello as Othello
- 1989 · A Dry White Season as Julius
- 1989 · Options as Jonas
- 1987 · Saturday Night at the Palace as
- 1987 · An African Dream as Khatana
- 1985 · 'Master Harold'... and the Boys as Willie
- 1981 · The Grass Is Singing as Moses
- 1981 · A Sizwe Bansi Workshop as Himself
- 1980 · Marigolds in August as Melton
- 1978 · Victims of Apartheid as George O'Brien
- 1978 · The Wild Geese as Sgt. Jesse Blake
- 1974 · Playhouse as
- 1974 · Sizwe Bansi is Dead as Styles/Buntu
- 1970 · Play for Today as George O'Brien
- Future · The Man in the Mirror as