South African actor ZAKES MOKAE was featured as Dargent Petraud, the snarling antagonist with supernatural powers, in Wes Craven’s 1988 thriller The Serpent and the Rainbow. He was seen in numerous other films and television productions, including many in the Sci-Fi/Horror/Fantasy genres.
Mokae was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, on August 5, 1935. He began working in theatre in the 1950s, and his roles often brought him into conflict with the ruling Apartheid system in South Africa. He was forced into exile, and continued his acting career overseas.
He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London in the early 1960s. He appeared on television in episodes of such series as “Danger Man,” and was seen in small roles in the films The Comedians (1967) and Fragment of Fear (1970).
Mokae came to the United States in the late 1960s, where he appeared on the New York Stage. Mokae earned a Tony Award for his role in Fugard’s 1982 play ‘Master Harold’… and the Boys, and reprised his role in the 1985 tele-film version.
Mokae was also a prolific film and television actor from the mid-1970s, appearing in such features as The Island (1980), Roar (1981), The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988), Body Parts (1991), Dust Devil (1992), Vampire in Brooklyn (1995) with Eddie Murphy, Outbreak (1995), and Waterworld (1995) with Kevin Costner. He also appeared on television in episodes of Knight Rider and The X Files, where he played the Minister Diabria in the Teliko episode in 1996.
Mokae died at his home in Las Vegas on September 11, 2009, at age 74.
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