Background
Mokae was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, moved to Great Britain in 1961, and to the United States in 1969.
Mokae was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, moved to Great Britain in 1961, and to the United States in 1969.
He turned to acting at the same time as playwright Athol Fugard was emerging. The two worked together on Fugard"s first international success, 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.
The play was filmed for television in 1985 with Mokae and Matthew Broderick.
His early film roles included as a guest at a wild party, and starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. His major films are split between anti-apartheid films such as and, and cult horror films such as, Dust Devil (1993), 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,,, and the Kevin Costner film. On television, he has been a guest actor in many series such as The West Wing, Starsky and Hutch, Danger Manitoba, 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. Mokae had been ill for some time.
