John Kani

John Kani

1943-11-30 New Brighton, Port Elizabeth, South Africa 41 Credits

Biography

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the former snake pit of the zoo, hence the name) in Port Elizabeth in 1965 and helped to create many plays that went unpublished but were performed to a resounding reception.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

Known For

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Complete Filmography

Mufasa: The Lion King

Mufasa: The Lion King

2024

as Rafiki (voice)

7.4
Acting

Mufasa, a cub lost and alone, meets a sympathetic lion named Taka, the heir to a royal bloodline. The chance meeting sets in motion an expansive journ...

Murder Mystery 2

Murder Mystery 2

2023

as Colonel Ulenga

6.4
Acting

After starting their own detective agency, Nick and Audrey Spitz land a career-making case when their billionaire pal is kidnapped from his wedding.

Seal Team

Seal Team

2021

as Brick (voice)

6.9
Acting

After his best friend is killed in a shark attack, Quinn, a lovable yet tenacious seal assembles a SEAL TEAM to fight back against a gang of sharks ov...

The Lion King

The Lion King

2019

as Rafiki (voice)

7.1
Acting

Simba idolizes his father, King Mufasa, and takes to heart his own royal destiny. But not everyone in the kingdom celebrates the new cub's arrival. Sc...

The Space: Theatre of Survival

The Space: Theatre of Survival

2019

Acting

When everything about you falls one man decides that theatre is the key, and the way to begin to unify a people. A film about the life and times of Th...

Murder Mystery

Murder Mystery

2019

as Colonel Ulenga

6.3
Acting

On a long-awaited trip to Europe, a New York City cop and his hairdresser wife scramble to solve a baffling murder aboard a billionaire's yacht.

Black Panther

Black Panther

2018

as T'Chaka

7.4
Acting

King T'Challa returns home to the reclusive, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda to serve as his country's new leader. However, T'Chall...

Captain America: Civil War

Captain America: Civil War

2016

as King T'Chaka

7.4
Acting

Following the events of Age of Ultron, the collective governments of the world pass an act designed to regulate all superhuman activity. This polarize...

1994: The Bloody Miracle

1994: The Bloody Miracle

2014

as Narrator

10.0
Acting

As South Africa celebrates its 20th anniversary of the advent of democracy in 1994, it is difficult to believe the ‘Mandela miracle’ nearly didn’t hap...

Jail Caesar

Jail Caesar

2012

as Marius

6.3
Acting

The early life of Roman ruler Julius Caesar as told in three working prisons in South Africa, the UK and Canada. A small group of professional actors ...

Falls the Shadow:  The Life and Times of Athol Fugard

Falls the Shadow: The Life and Times of Athol Fugard

2012

as Self

Acting

Director Tony Palmer tells the incredible life story of Athol Fugard, the prolific playwright, novelist, and director who exposed the horrors of South...

How to Steal 2 Million

How to Steal 2 Million

2011

as Julius Twala Snr.

7.0
Acting

It's a jungle out there. That's how we meet our lead character Jack. It's been five years since he's seen his partner and best friend Twala. Jack did ...

Coriolanus

Coriolanus

2011

as General Cominius

5.8
Acting

Caius Martius, aka Coriolanus, is an arrogant and fearsome general who has built a career on protecting Rome from its enemies. Pushed by his ambitious...

White Lion

White Lion

2010

as Old Gisani

6.5
Acting

According to the legend of the Shangaan, white lions are the messengers of the gods, but it has been years since one has been seen in their remote Afr...

Nothing But The Truth

Nothing But The Truth

2009

as Sipho

Acting

A South African librarian prepares for the return of the remains of his brother who died in exile.

Nothing But The Truth

Nothing But The Truth

2009

Director, Writer, Original Story

Directing Writing

A South African librarian prepares for the return of the remains of his brother who died in exile.

Endgame

Endgame

2009

as Oliver Tambo

5.8
Acting

The time is the late '80s, a crucial period in the history of South Africa. President P.W. Botha is hanging on to power by a thread as the African Nat...

The Bird Can't Fly

The Bird Can't Fly

2008

as Stone

7.0
Acting

Melody returns to her old home to Fairlands the funeral of their daughter, June to attend. But Melody not recognize their city regains because it is a...

Final Solution

Final Solution

2001

as Rev. Peter Lekota

9.5
Acting

The indoctrination of Gerrit Wolfaardt is complete: his family traditions, history, culture- even his church-have taught him that black South Africans...

The Tichborne Claimant

The Tichborne Claimant

1998

as Bogle

8.0
Acting

Based on a true story, set in the late 19th century: Lord Tichborne, the ninth richest nobleman in England, disappears after a South American shipwrec...

Kini & Adams

Kini & Adams

1997

as Ben

6.0
Acting

Kini and Adams are two friends leaving in a Zimbabwe village who dream of repairing an old broken car, and moving to the city and starting life over.

The Ghost and the Darkness

The Ghost and the Darkness

1996

as Samuel

6.8
Acting

Sir Robert Beaumont is behind schedule on a railroad in Africa. Enlisting noted engineer John Henry Patterson to right the ship, Beaumont expects resu...

Soweto Green

Soweto Green

1995

as Dr. Curtis

Acting

An American couple moves to Johannesburg after Nelson Mandela is elected president.

In Darkest Hollywood: Cinema and Apartheid

In Darkest Hollywood: Cinema and Apartheid

1994

as Self

Acting

A documentary overview and ideological critique of the South African film industry and cinema's historical relationship with apartheid.

Sarafina!

Sarafina!

1992

as School Principal

6.1
Acting

The plot centers on students involved in the Soweto Riots, in opposition to the implementation of Afrikaans as the language of instruction in schools....

The Native Who Caused All the Trouble

The Native Who Caused All the Trouble

1990

Acting

True story of a man who believes God owns the earth and land cannot be owned by anyone, therefore he's at liberty to build his church on ground occupi...

Othello

Othello

1989

as Othello

Acting

After 400 years Shakespeare's great tragedy still has strong social and political relevance, and this celebrated production by leading actress and dir...

A Dry White Season

A Dry White Season

1989

as Julius

6.7
Acting

During the 1976 Soweto uprising, a white school teacher's life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy w...

Options

Options

1989

as Jonas

2.0
Acting

An MBA goes to Africa to make a deal, but comes out with a Princess.

Saturday Night at the Palace

1987

1.0
Acting

South African drama set at a roadhouse in Apartheid.

An African Dream

An African Dream

1987

as Khatana

Acting

An Englishwoman travels to South Africa in 1906.

Miss Julie

1986

as John

Acting

This version of August Strindberg's play from 1888 takes place in South Africa in the 1980s. The servant John is black and Miss Julie a white landowne...

'Master Harold'... and the Boys

'Master Harold'... and the Boys

1985

as Willie

6.5
Acting

When Harold, a young white man, learns that his alcoholic, handicapped father is returning home, his frustration turns into racist viciousness against...

The Grass Is Singing

The Grass Is Singing

1981

as Moses

4.2
Acting

In Southern Rhodesia in the 1940s, city-dweller Mary marries farmer Dick Turner and is plucked from the comforts of her cosmopolitan life and forced t...

A Sizwe Bansi Workshop

1981

as Himself

Acting

The play, Sizwe Bansi is Dead, follows the main character, Sizwe, as he writes to his wife after an unsuccessful search for a new job and better life ...

Marigolds in August

Marigolds in August

1980

as Melton

Acting

Marigolds in August was written by Athol Fugard, who in the early 1980s was South Africa's most celebrated playwright. Fugard's intense political opin...

Victims of Apartheid

Victims of Apartheid

1978

as George O'Brien

Acting

George, a black South African, finds it hard to settle down in London after his experiences in South Africa.

The Wild Geese

The Wild Geese

1978

as Sgt. Jesse Blake

6.8
Acting

A British multinational company seeks to overthrow a vicious dictator in central Africa. It hires a band of (largely aged) mercenaries in London and s...

Sizwe Bansi is Dead

Sizwe Bansi is Dead

1974

as Styles/Buntu

Acting

Two Black South Africans discover what it means to lose their passbooks, which they must carry yo prove their identity during the apartheid era

Sizwe Bansi is Dead

Sizwe Bansi is Dead

1974

Writer

Writing

Two Black South Africans discover what it means to lose their passbooks, which they must carry yo prove their identity during the apartheid era

The Man in the Mirror

The Man in the Mirror

N/A

Acting

Set in Zululand South Africa three Zulu men must re-awaken sleeping demons when Mpiyakhe, now a successful Johannesburg businessman, returns home. Und...