Mokae was born in
Johannesburg,
South Africa, moved to the United Kingdom in 1961, and to the United States in 1969. Originally a
jazz saxophonist in
Trevor Huddleston's band, he turned to acting at the same time as playwright
Athol Fugard was emerging. The two worked together on Fugard's play,
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 for Best Featured Actor in a Play. The play was filmed for television in 1985 with Mokae and
Matthew Broderick. 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 and
Elizabeth Taylor. His major films are split between anti-apartheid films such as
Cry Freedom (1987) and
A Dry White Season (1989), and cult horror films such as
The Island (1980),
Dust Devil (1993),
The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988) and
Vampire in Brooklyn (1995), the latter two directed by horror icon
Wes Craven. He also appeared in character roles in many other films including
Gross Anatomy (1989),
Dad (1989),
A Rage in Harlem (1991),
Outbreak (1995) and the
Kevin Costner film
Waterworld (1995). On television, he has been a guest actor in many series such as
The West Wing,
Starsky and Hutch,
Danger Man,
The X-Files,
Oz,
Monk,
A Different World 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 on 11 September 2009 in Las Vegas. ==Partial filmography==