South African actor, writer and director
John Matshikiza died suddenly on Monday night after suffering a massive heart attack in a Melville restaurant. He was 54.
According to reports he was ill and had a scheduled appointment with a doctor for the following day.
According to his daughter, Lindiwe, he was eating at a restaurant when at around 20h30 he collapsed. Despite 30 minutes of treatment from paramedics they were not able to resuscitate him.
He is survived by two daughters, a mother and a sister.
Television fans will best remember Matshikiza in recent times for his role as the villainous businessman Zolani Modise in the SABC3 drama series
Hard Copy, playing the role in the second and third seasons.
He recently wrapped filming a guest role on the third season of the M-Net drama series
Jacob's Cross, playing the role of Femi's (
Akin Omotoso) father.
Matshikiza was born in Johannesburg in 1954. Between 1977 and 1991 he was based in London where he appeared in various productions for theatre companies.
In 1991 he played the tite role in Shakepeare's Macbeth at the New York International Festival Of Theatre and went on to appear in various TV roles for BBC, ITV, HBO and Channel Four including Death Is A Part Of The Process, the television movie Mandela (in which he played Walter Sisulu) and The Singing Detective.
John's feature film credits include Cry Freedom (1987), Dust Devil (1992), There's A Zulu On My Stoep (1993), The Air Up There (1994), Beyond Borders (2003), Wah-Wah (2005) and Shake Hands with the Devil (2007), which was his final film.
At the time of his death Matshikiza was a columnist for The Weekender.
TVSA Actor Profile