Biography
John Kani is a South African actor, director and playwright. He joined the Serpent Players in Port Elizabeth in 1965 and, with Athol Fugard and Winston Ntshona, co-wrote the plays Sizwe Banzi is Dead and The Island in the early 1970s. These works were performed internationally, and Kani and Ntshona received a Tony Award in 1975 for their Broadway productions.
Kani made his debut as sole playwright with Nothing but the Truth (2002), first performed at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg. On screen he has played King T'Chaka in Captain America: Civil War (2016) and Black Panther (2018), and voiced Rafiki in The Lion King (2019) and Mufasa: The Lion King (2024). He has also appeared as Colonel Ulenga in the Murder Mystery films (2019 and 2023).
Kani received an Obie Award in 2003 for his contribution to theatre in the United States and was later awarded an OBE for services to drama.
