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 language, 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#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

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 coun ...

, 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'', from 1961, a two-hander 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 c ...

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 ''The Song of Jacob Zulu'' is an American play that debuted on Broadway in 1993. Written by Tug Yourgrau, with lyrics by Tug Yourgrau and Ladysmith Black Mambazo and music by Ladysmith Black Mambazo and produced by the Steppenwolf Theatre Compa ...

'' by

Tug Yourgrau Tuggelin (Tug) Yourgrau is an American playwright and TV producer. He is the President of Powderhouse Productions in Somerville, Massachusetts. Early life and education Yourgrau was born in South Africa and moved to America at the age of 10. He ...

. His early film roles included '' Darling'' (1965) as a guest at a wild party, and '' The Comedians'' (1967) starring Richard Burton 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. ...

'' (1987) and '' A Dry White Season'' (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 ...

'' (1993), '' The Serpent and the Rainbow'' (1988) and '' Vampire in Brooklyn'' (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 rela ...

'' (1989), '' Dad'' (1989), ''

A Rage in Harlem ''A Rage in Harlem'' is a 1991 American crime film directed by Bill Duke and loosely based on Chester Himes' novel ''A Rage in Harlem''. The film stars Forest Whitaker, Danny Glover, Badja Djola, Robin Givens and Gregory Hines. Producer Stephen W ...

'' (1991), '' Outbreak'' (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'' (1995). On television, he has been a guest actor in many series such as ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American 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 West Wing of the White Hous ...

'', ''

Starsky and Hutch ''Starsky & Hutch'' is an American action television series, which consisted of a 72-minute pilot movie (originally aired as a '' Movie of the Week'' entry) and 92 episodes of 50 minutes each. The show was created by William Blinn (inspired by ...

'', '' Danger Man'', ''

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 dedic ...

'', ''

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) a ...

'' and '' Knight Rider''. 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 disease, medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemorr ...

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 Fragment ...

'' (uncredited) * 1970 '' The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer'' as Mugger (uncredited) * 1976 '' The River Niger'' 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 '' A Dry White Season'' as Stanley Makhaya * 1989 ''

'' as Dr. Banumbra * 1989 '' Dad'' as Dr. Chad * 1991 ''

'' "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 '' Outbreak'' as Dr. Benjamin Iwabi * 1995 '' Waterworld'' as Priam * 1995 '' Vampire in Brooklyn'' 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 Professor Ja ...

'' 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

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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