Winston Ntshona | |
---|---|
Born |
Port Elizabeth, South Africa |
6 October 1941
Nationality | South African |
Occupation | Actor, playwright |
Winston Ntshona (born 6 October 1941) is a South African playwright and actor.
Born in Port Elizabeth, Ntshona worked alongside fellow South African Athol Fugard on several occasions, most notably in the 1980 film version of Fugard's play Marigolds in August, and played a minor role in Richard Attenborough's acclaimed film Gandhi (1982) and a major role in the film A Dry White Season (1989).
Ntshona played deposed President Julius Limbani, the subject of a rescue attempt in The Wild Geese (1978). Limbani is based on Moise Tshombe. He also played a similar role in The Dogs of War (1980) as Dr. Okoye, a moderate political figure thrown in jail by the dictator President Kimba of the fictional Republic of Zangaro. His other film credits include roles in Ashanti (1979), Night of the Cyclone (1991), The Power of One (1992), The Air Up There (1994) and Tarzan and the Lost City (1998).
In 1979 he appeared in Michael Hastings' monologue Full Frontal at the Royal Court Theatre in London.
With Fugard and John Kani, Ntshona wrote the 1973 play The Island, in which he and Kani starred in a number of major international productions over the next 30 years. He and Kani were co-winners of the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for their performance in both The Island and Sizwe Banzi is Dead, which he also co-wrote.