Bonisile John Kani (born August 30, 1942 in New Brighton, South Africa) is a South African actor, director and playwright.
He's best known internationally for playing King T'Chaka of Wakanda (father of T'Challa) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and for voicing Rafiki in the photorealistic remake of The Lion King.
Filmography
- The Wild Geese (1978)
- "Master Harold"... and the Boys (1985)
- Othello (1989)
- The Ghost and the Darkness (1996)
- Coriolanus (2011)
- Marvel Cinematic Universe
- Captain America: Civil War (2016)
- Black Panther (2018)
- What If...? (2021)
- The Lion King (2019)
- Mufasa: The Lion King (2024)
- Seal Team (2021)
TV
- Wallander (2015)
- The White Lioness - Max Khulu
Tropes
- Chronically Killed Actor: His characters, be it on stage or on screen, tend to die in the story.
- Glass Eye: His left eye was lost in the incident mentioned below, and he's worn a glass eye since.
- Real-Life Relative: He and his son Atandwa collaborated several times both on stage and on screen.
- Reclusive Artist: Not much is known about his personal life other than his son, Atandwa, is also an actor and that he got beat up by policemen who are supporters of a politician who was subjected to a Take That! by a play Kani starred in.
- Shakespearian Actors: He starred in several plays and adaptations of William Shakespeare's works.
- Written by Cast Member: He's a playwright and is often cast in the plays he wrote .
