Biography of John Kani & Net Worth

Bonisile John Kani (born 30 August, 1943) is a South African actor, author, director and playwright, known for portraying T’Chaka in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Captain America: Civil War (2016) and Black Panther (2018), Rafiki in the 2019 remake of The Lion King and Colonel Ulenga in the Netflix film Murder Mystery (2019).

Personal life

Kani was born in New Brighton, Eastern Cape, South Africa. In 1975, after appearing in Athol Fugard’s anti-apartheid play Sizwe Banzi Is Dead, which he also co-wrote, Kani returned to South Africa. There, he received a phone call saying that his father wanted to see him. On his way there, he was surrounded by police who beat him and left him for dead. His left eye was lost as a result of the incident and he now wears a prosthesis.

His son Atandwa is also an actor, who made his debut on U.S. television on the CW series Life Is Wild, and played a younger version of Kani’s character T’Chaka in Black Panther.

Plays

• Sizwe Banzi is Dead (1972) (co-authored with Athol Fugard and Winston Ntshona)
• The Island (1973) (co-authored with Athol Fugard and Winston Ntshona)
• Statements After an Arrest Under the Immorality Act (co-authored with Athol Fugard and Winston Ntshona)
• My Children My Africa! (actor)
• Nothing But the Truth (2002) (sole playwright)
• The Tempest (2008) (actor in the role of Caliban, at the Baxter Theatre, Cape Town; Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon; and tour of Richmond, Leeds, Bath, Nottingham, Sheffield)
• Missing (2014) (actor and sole playwright)
• Kunene and the King (2019) (actor and playwright.

Net Worth

John Kani’s net worth is estimated to be $4 million, according to the list of South Celebrities and Net Worth in 2021.