- Known For
- Acting
- Born
- November 30, 1943
- Place of Birth
- New Brighton, Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, South Africa
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in the former snake pit of the zoo, hence the name) in Port Elizabeth in 1965 and helped to create many plays that went unpublished but were performed to a resounding reception.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…
Filmography
movieMufasa: The Lion King
2024 · Rafiki (voice)
movieBeyond the Light Barrier
2023 · Narrator/Self
movieMurder Mystery 2
2023 · Colonel Ulenga
movieSeal Team
2021 · Brick (voice)
tvWhat If...?
2021 · T'Chaka (voice)
tvMarvel Studios Legends
2021 · T'Chaka (archive footage) (uncredited)
movieThe Lion King
2019 · Rafiki (voice)
movieThe Space: Theatre of Survival
2019
movieMurder Mystery
2019 · Colonel Ulenga
movieBlack Panther
2018 · T'Chaka
movieCaptain America: Civil War
2016 · King T'Chaka
movie1994: The Bloody Miracle
2014 · Narrator
movieJail Caesar
2012 · Marius
movieFalls the Shadow: The Life and Times of Athol Fugard
2012 · Self
movieHow to Steal 2 Million
2011 · Julius Twala Snr.
movieCoriolanus
2011 · General Cominius
movieWhite Lion
2010 · Old Gisani
movieNothing But The Truth
2009 · Sipho, Director, Writer, Original Story
movieEndgame
2009 · Oliver Tambo
tvWallander
2008 · Max Khulu
movieThe Bird Can't Fly
2008 · Stone
movieFinal Solution
2001 · Rev. Peter Lekota
movieThe Tichborne Claimant
1999 · Bogle
movieKini & Adams
1997 · Ben
movieThe Ghost and the Darkness
1996 · Samuel
tvSilent Witness
1996 · Dr. Phiri
movieSoweto Green
1995 · Dr. Curtis
movieIn Darkest Hollywood: Cinema and Apartheid
1994 · Self
tvAfrican Skies
1992
movieSarafina!
1992 · School Principal
movieThe Native Who Caused All the Trouble
1990
movieOthello
1989 · Othello
movieA Dry White Season
1989 · Julius
movieOptions
1989 · Jonas
Saturday Night at the Palace
movieSaturday Night at the Palace
1987
movieAn African Dream
1987 · Khatana
Miss Julie
movieMiss Julie
1986 · John
movie'Master Harold'... and the Boys
1985 · Willie
movieThe Grass Is Singing
1981 · Moses
A Sizwe Bansi Workshop
movieA Sizwe Bansi Workshop
1981 · Himself
movieMarigolds in August
1980 · Melton
movieVictims of Apartheid
1978 · George O'Brien
movieThe Wild Geese
1978 · Sgt. Jesse Blake
movieSizwe Bansi Is Dead
1974 · Styles/Buntu, Writer
tvPlayhouse
1974 · Styles / Buntu, Writer
tvPlay for Today
1970 · George O'Brien
movieThe Man in the Mirror
—