Actor / Director Profile

Nelson Mandela is known as the leader of the African National Congress (ANC) and for his lifelong struggle against apartheid (enforced racial separation), which was instituted in South Africa in 1948. The ANC was soon declared a terrorist organization and banned by the South African government. Mandela was arrested in 1962 and imprisoned for life on "terrorist" charges, but in 1990 he was freed by South African president F.W. de Klerk. In 1994 he was elected president of South Africa. Two biographical movies were made, and the latest, Mandela and de Klerk (1997) (TV), focused on his life's struggles.