Bio
Owen Sejake is a South African actor best known for his roles in the television drama series Yizo Yizo, Ke Nake, Soul City, Zone 14 and Fallen, all of which aired on SABC1.
He is also known for his film roles as Nobe in Beat the Drum in 2003, for which he won the Best Supporting Actor award at the Monaco International Film Festival; and as Gumboot Dlamini, a miner who gets brutally murdered on a train by the title character, in the Academy Award-winning Gavin Hood film Tsotsi, in 2005.
Born in Daveyton, a township in the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality of Gauteng, Owen has had a lengthy career as an actor, performing in roles in film, television and theatre since 1971.
His film career includes such international films as Ocean Harvest, Mandela and De Klerk, Africaine Adventures, Shot Down, Hijack Stories, Crime in Gabon and director John Boorman’s film Country of My Skull.
Other films he has acted in include Pure Blood, The African Story, Score and Shake Hands with the Devil.
His television career includes roles in Justice For All; Yizo Yizo; Ke Nako; Saints, Sinners and Settlers; Soul City 6; Black Velvet Band; So Hard to Forget; Deafening Silence; Masakeng; Oedipus Rex; African Skies; The Line; Scout's Safari; Going Up; Behind The Badge; Stokvel; Zero Tolerance; Mponeng; Gothia Caper; Erfsondes; and The Lab.
Owen has extensive experience as a theatre actor as well. In 1993 he received the Vita Nomination for Best Actor in a Musical for Once on this Island, and in 1996 was nominated for a Vita Best Supporting Actor award for his role in Marabi.
His theatrical repertoire includes Athol Fugard's Captain's Tiger, Wole Soyinka's Death and the King's Horseman, Prophets in the Sky, Daughter of Nebo and Marabi.
Other theatre productions he has appeared in include Julius Caesar at the Windybrow Theatre, Nongogo at the Civic Theatre, Ipi Tombi I and II (both locally and abroad), The Knot at the Baxter theatre and Milestones (directed by Jerry Mofokeng) at the State Theatre.
He speaks several languages including seSotho, North Sotho, Tswana, Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans and English.
Owen played the role of President Nkosi in the second season of the SABC2 drama series 90 Plein Street, in 2009.
Also in 2009, he played the role of corrupt cop Tony Dlamini in the e.tv drama series eKasi: Our Stories, in the episode entitled "Chasing the Truth".