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Ian Roberts

Actor

Ian Roberts

Born November 30, 1951 in Fort Beaufort, South Africa42 films

Ian Roberts is a South African actor, playwright and singer best known to television viewers for his roles in the drama series Arende and Snitch, and as the character Boet in a series of long-running advertisements for Castrol motor oil. Roberts was born in Fort Beaufort in the Eastern Cape and raised on a citrus farm near the town. He attended St. Andrew's Preparatory School and St. Andrew's College in Grahamstown. After completing high school he performed his compulsory national service in the South African Army, which he completed in 1971. After a variety of different jobs and a course in photography at the Port Elizabeth Technical College from 1973 to 1975, Roberts enrolled at Rhodes University in 1976 for a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Speech, Drama and Social Anthropology. Ian Roberts has built up an extensive acting career in theatre, television and film. Roberts was married to South African actress Michele Botes, but the couple divorced in 1999. They have two children.

Start here

The best way into Ian Roberts's work
The Power of One posterFirst watchThe Power of One19927.5as Hoppie GruenewaldPK, an English orphan terrorized for his family's political beliefs in Africa, turns to his only friend, a kindly world-wise prisoner, Geel Piet.View film

Essential films

Ranked by acclaim and reach
Mia and the White Lion poster7.2Mia and the White Lion2018Tsotsi poster6.9Tsotsi2005Tremors 5: Bloodlines poster5.6Tremors 5: Bloodlines2015I Dreamed of Africa poster5.4I Dreamed of Africa2000

Filmography

42 films as actor
  1. 2025A Kind of MadnessDan Hart
  2. 2021Pusha Pressa Phanda
  3. 2018Mia and the White LionJohn's Father
  4. 2017Van der MerweOupa Van der Merwe
  5. 2015Tremors 5: BloodlinesDen Bravers
  6. 2014The WindmillDoctor Rossouw
  7. 2013Stuur Groete Aan Mannetjies RouxFrans
  8. 2013Musiek Vir Die AgtergrondChris
  9. 2013Bakgat 3Basjan
  10. 2013BabalasBoet
  11. 2010EternityProfessor Tevis Shapiro
  12. 2010Bakgat 2Basjan du Preez
  13. 2010The Race-IstNoel Oosthuizen
  14. 2008Bakgat!Basjan du Preez
  15. 2006Number 10Marius Kramer
  16. 2005TsotsiCaptain Smit
  17. 20053 NeedlesHallyday, the Plantation Owner
  18. 2004Red DustPiet Müller
  19. 2001AskariRipshaw
  20. 2000I Dreamed of AfricaMike Donovan
  21. 1999A Reasonable ManChris Van Rooyen
  22. 1998SweepersYager
  23. 1998Tarzan and the Lost CityCaptain Dooley
  24. 1998PaljasFrans
  25. 1997Mandela and de KlerkKobie Coetsee
  26. 1996InsideGuard Moolman
  27. 1995Cry, the Beloved CountryEvans
  28. 1995Cyborg Cop IIISheen
  29. 1994Kalahari HarryKalahari Harry Morgan
  30. 1994In a Time of Violence: The LineLt. Danie Visser
  31. 1992The Power of OneHoppie Gruenewald
  32. 1990The Fourth ReichJohannes van der Walt
  33. 1989Cape RebelSloet Steenkamp
  34. 1988The Crossing
  35. 1988Dancing in the ForestThor
  36. 1987Jane and the Lost CityCarl
  37. 1987You Must Be Joking! TooVarious
  38. 1986HeroesHendrik 'Hennie' du Preez
  39. 1986Night of FearSteve Vosloo
  40. 1985Wild ManeuvresCorp. White
  41. 1983Anna Meintjies
  42. 1982The Horse Smuggler