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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in the former snake pit of the zoo, hence the name) in Port Elizabeth in 1965 and helped to create many plays that went unpublished but were performed to a resounding reception.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.


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Born:
Nov 30, 1943
Movie/TV Credits:
29
First Appeared:
In the movie The Man in the Mirror
Latest Project:
Movie Mufasa: The Lion King 2024-12-18
Known For
Poster of Jail Caesar
Poster of An African Dream
Filmography
Movie The Man in the Mirror 2025
Movie Mufasa: The Lion King Rafiki (voice) 2024-12-18
Movie Murder Mystery 2 Colonel Ulenga 2023-03-28
Series Marvel Studios Legends 2021-01-08
Movie Seal Team Brick (voice) 2021-10-28
Movie Murder Mystery Colonel Ulenga 2019-05-25
Movie The Lion King Rafiki (voice) 2019-07-12
Movie Black Panther T'Chaka 2018-02-13
Movie Captain America: Civil War King T'Chaka 2016-04-27
Movie Jail Caesar 2012-06-28
Movie How to Steal 2 Million Julius Twala Snr. 2011-09-02
Movie Coriolanus General Cominius 2011-02-14
Movie White Lion Old Gisani 2010-02-19
Movie Nothing But The Truth Sipho 2009-11-01
Movie Endgame Oliver Tambo 2009-01-18
Movie The Bird Can't Fly Stone 2008-01-03
Movie The Tichborne Claimant Bogle 1998-08-01
Movie The Ghost and the Darkness Samuel 1996-10-11
Movie In Darkest Hollywood: Cinema and Apartheid Self 1994-02-18
Movie Sarafina! School Principal 1992-09-18
Movie The Native Who Caused All the Trouble 1990-05-11
Movie A Dry White Season Julius 1989-09-20
Movie Options Jonas 1989-05-27
Movie Saturday Night at the Palace 1987-12-12
Movie An African Dream Khatana 1987-01-01
Movie 'Master Harold'... and the Boys Willie 1985-01-01
Movie The Grass Is Singing Moses 1981-08-30
Movie Victims of Apartheid George O'Brien 1978-10-24
Movie The Wild Geese Sgt. Jesse Blake 1978-06-28