Zakes Makgona Mokae (5 August 1934 – 11 September 2009) was a South African-American actor of theatre and film.

Life and career

Mokae was born in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, moved to the United Kingdom in 1961, and to the United States in 1969. He turned to acting at the same time as playwright

Athol Fugard Athol Fugard, Hon. , (born 11 June 1932), is a South African playwright, novelist, actor, and director widely regarded as South Africa's greatest playwright. He is best known for his political and penetrating plays opposing the system of apart ...

was emerging. The two worked together on Fugard's play, ''

The Blood Knot ''Blood Knot'' is an early play by South African playwright, actor, and director Athol Fugard. Its single-performance premier was in 1961 in Johannesburg, South Africa, with the playwright and Zakes Mokae playing the brothers Morris and Zachariah ...

'', from 1961, a

two-hander A two-hander is a term for a play, film, or television programme with only two main characters. The two characters in question often display differences in social standing or experiences, differences that are explored and possibly overcome as ...

set in South Africa about brothers with the same mother but different fathers; Zach (played by Mokae) is dark skinned and Morris (played by Fugard) is fair skinned. Later Mokae worked with Fugard on the play '' "Master Harold"...and the Boys'', for which Mokae won the 1982

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

for Featured Actor in a Play. The play was filmed for television in 1985 with Mokae and

Matthew Broderick Matthew Broderick (born March 21, 1962) is an American actor. His roles include the Golden Globe-nominated portrayal of the title character in ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986), the voice of adult Simba in Disney's ''The Lion King'' (1994), ...

. In 1993 Mokae was nominated for a second Tony Award for Featured Actor in a Play for '' The Song of Jacob Zulu'' by Tug Yourgrau. His early film roles included '' Darling'' (1965) as a guest at a wild party, and '' The Comedians'' (1967) starring

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable pe ...

and

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...

. His major films are split between anti-apartheid films such as ''

Cry Freedom ''Cry Freedom'' is a 1987 epic apartheid drama film directed and produced by Richard Attenborough, set in late-1970s apartheid-era South Africa. The screenplay was written by John Briley based on a pair of books by journalist Donald Woods. The ...

'' (1987) and ''

A Dry White Season ''A Dry White Season'' is a 1989 American drama film directed by Euzhan Palcy and starring Donald Sutherland, Jürgen Prochnow, Marlon Brando, Janet Suzman, Zakes Mokae and Susan Sarandon. It was written by Colin Welland and Palcy, based upon ...

'' (1989), and cult horror films such as '' The Island'' (1980), ''

Dust Devil A dust devil is a strong, well-formed, and relatively short-lived whirlwind. Its size ranges from small (half a metre wide and a few metres tall) to large (more than 10 m wide and more than 1 km tall). The primary vertical motion is u ...

'' (1993), '' The Serpent and the Rainbow'' (1988) and ''

Vampire in Brooklyn ''Vampire in Brooklyn'' is a 1995 American dark comedy horror film directed by Wes Craven. It stars Eddie Murphy, who produced and wrote with his brothers Vernon Lynch and Charles Q. Murphy. The film co-stars Angela Bassett, Allen Payne, Kadeem ...

'' (1995), the latter two directed by horror icon

Wes Craven Wesley Earl Craven (August 2, 1939 – August 30, 2015) was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and editor. Craven has commonly been recognized as one of the greatest masters of the horror genre due to the cultural imp ...

. He also appeared in character roles in many other films including ''

Gross Anatomy Gross anatomy is the study of anatomy at the visible or macroscopic level. The counterpart to gross anatomy is the field of histology, which studies microscopic anatomy. Gross anatomy of the human body or other animals seeks to understand the rel ...

'' (1989), '' Dad'' (1989), '' A Rage in Harlem'' (1991), ''

Outbreak In epidemiology, an outbreak is a sudden increase in occurrences of a disease when cases are in excess of normal expectancy for the location or season. It may affect a small and localized group or impact upon thousands of people across an entire ...

'' (1995) and the

Kevin Costner Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American actor, producer, film director and musician. He has received various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Screen Actor ...

film ''

Waterworld ''Waterworld'' is a 1995 American post-apocalyptic action film directed by Kevin Reynolds and co-written by Peter Rader and David Twohy. It was based on Rader's original 1986 screenplay and stars Kevin Costner, who also produced it with Charl ...

'' (1995). On television, he has been a guest actor in many series such as ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American serial (radio and television), serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the ...

'', '' Starsky and Hutch'', ''

Danger Man ''Danger Man'' (retitled ''Secret Agent'' in the United States for the revived series, and ''Destination Danger'' and ''John Drake'' in other overseas markets) is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again b ...

'', ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...

'', '' Oz'', ''

Monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

'', ''

A Different World ''A Different World'' is an American sitcom (and a spin-off of ''The Cosby Show'') television series that aired for six seasons on NBC from September 24, 1987 to July 9, 1993. The series originally centered on Denise Huxtable ( Lisa Bonet) an ...

'' and ''

Knight Rider ''Knight Rider'' is an American entertainment franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The core of ''Knight Rider'' is its three television series: the original ''Knight Rider'' (1982–1986) and sequel series ''Team Knight Rider'' (1997–1998) ...

''. In 1975, American writer-filmmaker Eon Chontay Cjohnathan gave birth to Zakes Mokae's only child, Santlo (after Mokae's mother) Chontay Mokae. In later years, Mokae worked as a theatre director for American companies including the Nevada Shakespeare Company. Mokae died from complications of a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

on 11 September 2009 in Las Vegas.Bruce Weber, "Zakes Mokae, Tony-Winning Actor, Is Dead at 75"

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

, 15 September 2009

Partial filmography

* 1957 ''Donker Afrika'' as Sergeant * 1961 ''Tremor'' * 1962 ''Dilemma'' as Steven Sitole * 1965 '' Darling'' as Black Man At French Party (uncredited) * 1967 '' The Comedians'' as Michel * 1970 ''

Fragment of Fear ''Fragment of Fear'' is a 1970 British thriller film directed by Richard C. Sarafian and starring David Hemmings, Gayle Hunnicutt, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Roland Culver, Flora Robson and Arthur Lowe. It was adapted from the 1965 novel '' A Fragme ...

'' (uncredited) * 1970 ''

The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer ''The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer'' is a 1970 British satirical film starring Peter Cook, and co-written by Cook, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, and Kevin Billington, who directed the film. The film was devised and produced by David Frost u ...

'' as Mugger (uncredited) * 1976 ''

The River Niger ''The River Niger'' is a play by Joseph A. Walker, first performed by New York City's Negro Ensemble Company off-Broadway in 1972. The production made its Broadway debut with a transfer to the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on 27 March 1973 for a run ...

'' as "Dutch" * 1980 '' The Island'' as Wescott * 1981 '' Roar'' as Committee Member * 1985 '' Master Harold...and the Boys'' (TV Movie) as Sam * 1987 ''

'' as Father Kani * 1988 '' The Serpent and the Rainbow'' as Captain Dargent Peytraud * 1989 ''

'' as Stanley Makhaya * 1989 ''

'' as Dr. Banumbra * 1989 '' Dad'' as Dr. Chad * 1991 '' A Rage in Harlem'' "Big Kathy" * 1991 '' Body Parts'' as Detective Sawchuck * 1991 '' The Doctor'' as Dr. Charles Reed (uncredited) * 1992 ''

'' as Sergeant Ben Mukurob * 1993 '' Slaughter of the Innocents'' as Library Janitor * 1995 ''

'' as Dr. Benjamin Iwabi * 1995 ''

'' as Priam * 1995 ''

'' as Dr. Zeko * 1997 ''Waterworld: The Quest For Dry Land'' as Piram * 1998 ''

Krippendorf's Tribe ''Krippendorf's Tribe'' is a 1998 American comedy film directed by Todd Holland and based on Frank Parkin's 1985 novel of the same name. The film stars Richard Dreyfuss, Jenna Elfman, Natasha Lyonne, and Lily Tomlin. Its plot follows Professo ...

'' as Sulukim * 1998 '' Oz'' (TV Series) as Kepkemie Jara * 2000 ''

'' (TV Series) as President Nimbala * 2002 '' Mr. Monk and the Marathon Man'' (TV Series) as Tonday (final appearance)

References

External links

* * *
Tony Awards
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mokae, Zakes 1934 births 2009 deaths American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors People from Johannesburg South African male stage actors South African expatriates in the United Kingdom South African emigrants to the United States Tony Award winners South African male film actors 20th-century American male actors