Bio
Patrick Shai was a celebrated South African actor who appeared in numerous stage plays, television productions and feature films.
Shai started his career at Safari Ranch as a dancer with Mzumba African Drama and Ballet. He went on to scoop many awards on both television and stage.
Patrick was also one of the founder members of Free Film Makers - an alternative to then-mainstream television in South Africa.
He appeared in numerous television series including Bophelo Ke Semphekgo, Mission Top Secret, Behind the Badge, Zero Tolerance, Hillside, Soul City, Life is Wild, Yizo Yizo, Hillside, Generations, Uzalo and The River. He also played the role of Christmas in the 1996 BBC mini-series Rhodes.
Shai acted in many made-for-TV movies, including The Land of Dreams (1990), Inside (1996), La Ferme du crocodile (1996), The Place of Lions (1997) and The Gates of Cleveland Road (2000).
He also has an extensive feature film resume, which includes the following films:
Place of Weeping
Red Scorpion
Blind Justice
Schweitzer
Taxi to Soweto
Cry, the Beloved Country
Hearts and Minds
Danger Zone
Fools
The Bone Snatcher
Critical Assignment
He played the lead role of Moses Mokoena - a Xhosa doctor who has to choose between his wife and a white woman he once loved 30 years ago - in the SABC2 mini-series Noah's Ark, from July to August, 2008.
From September to December, 2008, he played the lead role of Kgosi Matlakala, a former magistrate who opens a guest house and wedding chapel, in the SABC2 sitcom Moferefere Lenyalong.
In 2010 he starred as Bra Sporo in the SABC2 drama series Hola Mpinji.
He took over from Owen Sejake as Tiger Sibiya for the third season of the SABC1 drama series Zone 14, from the third season on, in 2010.
Patrick died by suicide on the morning of Saturday 22 January 2022, at his home in Dobsonville, Soweto.