ZAKES MAKGWANE MOKAE

When Zakes Mokae’s mother saw his name emblazoned in huge, neon-lit letters on the walls of Broadway, New York, she was so elated that when she came back home to Meadowlands, Soweto, she excitedly told friends: “They have named a street after my son!” The year was 1982 and the occasion was the premiere of Athol Fugard’s Master Harold and the Boys, in which Zakes Mokae played the lead. To Seantlo Mokae, Zakes’ mother and retired domestic, her first-born had become a sensation in far-away America – achieving a cult following amongst legions of American theatre and movie lovers. If Miriam Makeba’s music, Gerard Sekoto’s art and Eskia Mphahlele’s books have played a signifi cant role in conscientising the world to the realities of apartheid injustices, then Zakes Mokae’s stage and screen exploits certainly achieved the same. Like the above-mentioned, his exile was defi ned by his role as the country’s pre-eminent cultural ambassador for the voiceless. And with an illustrious career spanning over four decades and sterling performances on stage and cinema – culminating in a Tony Award – Uncle Sam might as well have named a street after Zakes Mokae. After all, the list of Hollywood’s galaxy of stars he has acted alongside is inexhaustible – Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Marlon Brando, Michael Caine, Dustin Hoffman, James Earl Jones, Donald Sutherland, Denzel Washington and Kevin Kline – to name a few. A supporting role in the horror fi lm, The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988) underscored his reputation as one of Hollywood’s top dogs. Directed by Wes Craven, one of the brilliant writers of horror novels, The Serpent and the Rainbow is considered by many horror cinema critics as one of the genre’s masterpieces – a spine-tingling supernatural thriller and realistic portrayal of the role of voodoo religion in Haitian society. Hollywood is, like the White House, a quintessential American
institution; to talented actors, the ultimate monument to the American Dream. But only a handful of outsiders have found acceptance here to realise their acting dreams and aspirations.

Even the number of African American leading men –demographics considered – is unimpressively short: Sidney Poitier, Morgan Freeman, Louis Gossett Jr, Danny Glover, James Earl Jones, Eddie Murphy, Denzel Washington, Laurence Fishburne, Samuel L Jackson, Forrest Whittaker, Cuba Gooding Jr and Will Smith – making Hollywood a closely-guarded ‘lily-white’ film empire. This state of affairs makes Mokae’s achievements even more remarkable; an African who overcame the prejudice of being an outsider and black to showcase his gifts on an international platform. Add to that the fact that he has made guest appearances on most of America’s cult TV series – Knight Rider, The X-Files, West Wing, Law and Order and Oz – and you have an accomplished actor with impeccable artistic credentials. And of course local movie lovers will remember his sterling roles in two of the best known anti-apartheid movies – Cry Freedom (DenzelWashington/Kevin Kline) and A Dry White Season (Donald Sutherland/Winston Ntshona) in which he starred as a priest and a taxi driver respectively. It is equally amazing that one of the world’s best method actors became a professional actor by pure chance. “If you were black it was difficult to plan your life, to think in terms of getting a career,” he told me during one of his rare visits in the country. “Many things happened by pure chance.” Born and raised in Sophiatown, Mokae was educated at St Peters – the Eton of South Africa which produced literary luminaries Peter Abrahams and Eskia Mphahlele –where he played saxophone for the school’s jazz band alongside Hugh Masekela and Jonas Gwangwa. He was also into poetry sessions and recited his lines during jazz sessions at august venues like Wits Great Hall. Though he never lifted an instrument after he went into exile in 1961, he still spoke passionately about jazz and citing Mongane Serote and Amiri Baraka amongst his favourite bards.

This is how he related his introduction in to the world of acting: While downtown one day, his friend went into a movie studio and returned with two white chaps. “They asked me whether I had come to audition. I didn’t even know what the word meant and said no,” he laughed in that characterestic belly laugh of his. “They said I had a particular face that would suit the role they were looking for and I was fl attered.” The film was called Legends of Fear and marked his screen debut. Mokae left shortly after Sharpeville and his fi rst stop was London – but not for long. He says he felt awkward because there weren’t many blacks in London and the culture was strange. He met and married Mandy, a Clevelandborn African American. The couple left for New York and eventually resettled in Nevada. He said their marriage was always stable, thanks to the openness of their relationship. “We talk, listen to each other and appreciate each other’s situation.” Although he had always juggled screen and stage in his roles, theatre was his fi rst love. It was his passion for the stage that earned him a Tony Award in 1982 for best performance in Fugard’s Master Harold and the Boys. He starred in the lead as Sam the bartender and ballroom dancer in the play’s Yale Repertory run alongside the supporting acts of Danny Glover (Willie) and Zeljko Ivanek (Hally). Lonnie Price, who is currently directing the Hollywood adaptation of Master Harold and The Boys to hit the big screens in 2010, later replaced Ivanek for the Broadway run. Mokae
recalled with fondness the excitement caused by his Tony triumph. “Broadway went wild. People left the theatre with tears in their eyes. Back home he remembered Afrikaans radio hailing him as “ons eie Zakes” (“our own Zakes”). He wasn’t as fl attered as he was annoyed. But it was praise nonetheless. The excitement was probably only matched by fellow countrymen John Kani and Winston Ntshona winning the same award in 1975 for other Athold Fugard co-creations, Sizwe Bansi is Dead and The Island. Only one African American male – James Earl Jones – has won a Tony (twice) in the “best performance for a drama” category since Sidney Poitier’s historic nomination for the 1960 stage play, A Raisin In The Sun. Mokae repeated the feat in 1993 for his role in The Song of Jacob Zulu by Tug Yourgrau – the only non-American to have done so.

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