Robert Craig Jansen van Vuuren (born 26 March 1976) is a South African comedian, actor, presenter, theatre maker, and writer.
Rob van Vuuren | |
|---|---|
 Van Vuuren in 2009 | |
| Born | Robert Craig Jansen van Vuuren 26 March 1976 Port Elizabeth, South Africa |
| Alma mater | Rhodes University |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Children | 1 |
Early life edit
Van Vuuren was born in Port Elizabeth.[1] He completed his matriculation at Maritzburg College before going on to graduate with a degree in Drama from Rhodes University in 1997.[2] During university, he joined the First Physical Theatre Company.[citation needed]
Career edit
Van Vuuren began his career in theatre, receiving Vita and Fleur du Cap Theatre Award nominations for his roles in the productions Birdy and The Beauty Queen of Leenane respectively.[3]
Forming a comedy and creative duo with Louw Venter, van Vuuren produced and played Twakkie in YouTube videos and later in the SABC2 sketch comedy series The Most Amazing Show from 2006 to 2007. Venter played Corné. The duo also took these personas on a live tour. During this time, van Vuuren presented Crazy Games, also for SABC2 and starred in the comedy film Footskating 101 as Vince Muldoon.
Van Vuuren and his dance partner Mary Martin won the fifth season of Strictly Come Dancing in 2008. That same year, he wrote and performed his first stand up comedy show Rob van Vuuren is Ron van Wuren, which received a South African Comedy Award nomination and picked up the Nando's Breakthrough Act Award at the National Arts Festival that year.[4] Through Juju Productions, he directed a number of plays.[5] He was invited by Brett Bailey to perform at Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday party in Qunu.[6] Van Vuuren went on to co-host the first two seasons of SA's Got Talent with Anele Mdoda.
In 2011, Van Vuuren received the inaugural Comics' Choice Breakthrough Act Award for his work in comedy and has since gone on to win five Standard Bank Ovation Awards at the annual National Arts Festival.[7] He has also taken his comedy shows abroad the likes of London, Brighton, Edinburgh, Perth, Amsterdam, Dubai, and Sharjah.[8]
Van Vuuren starred opposite Siv Ngesi in the 2012 crime comedy film Copposites.[9][10] He, Ngesi, and Danielle Bischoff created the children's book series Florence & Watson as well as it accompanying stage show.
In 2016, van Vuuren and Bontle Modiselle co-hosted the competition series Showville. That year, he starred in a production of A Doll's House, for which he received a number of accolades including a Fleur du Cap Theatre Award.
Van Vuuren starred as the titular role in the 2017 comedy film Van der Merwe, reuniting with Venter, who played his brother.[11] The following year, he appeared in the film Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell. He earned three Fleur du Cap nominations in 2018 and 2019 for his roles in Louis Viljoen's Dangled as well as the Baxter Theatre productions of Endgame and Curse of the Starving Class.
Van Vuuren joined the main cast of the 2020 Netflix crime drama Queen Sono as Viljoen. The following year, he played Russ Thorn in the 2021 Slumber Party Massacre remake and starred as Mr Angelo in the SABC1 drama miniseries The Kingdom.
Van Vuuren embarked on a new comedy show in 2022 titled Rob van Vuuren is Still Standing at Cafe Roux.
Personal life edit
Van Vuuren was married to Danielle Bischoff, with whom he collaborated on Juju Productions and Florence & Watson, from 2008 until sometime during lockdown.[12] Van Vuuren and Bischoff had lived in Fish Hoek with their daughter, whom they adopted.[13]
Upon Showmax's 2020 decision to review content on its platform, van Vuuren issued an official apology for having engaged in blackface for a 2013 Leon Schuster film.[14]
Filmography edit
Film edit
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Final Solution | Hennie Terblanche | |
| 2003 | Adrenaline | John | |
| The Bone Snatcher | Scientist | ||
| 2005 | Straight Outta Benoni | Hippie | |
| 2007 | Footskating 101 | Vince Muldoon | |
| 2012 | Copposites | Jan Venter | |
| 2013 | Schuks! Your Country Needs You | Wayne | |
| Die Laaste Tango | Kevin King | ||
| Khumba | Various | Voice role | |
| 2015 | Stone Cold Jane Austen | Karel | |
| 2017 | Van der Merwe | Van | |
| 2018 | Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell | Swackhamer | Direct-to-video |
| 2021 | The Mauritanian | Officer | |
| Good Life | Bob | ||
| Slumber Party Massacre | Russ Thorn |
Television edit
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006–2007 | The Most Amazing Show | Twakkie | Main role |
| Crazy Games | Himself | ||
| 2008 | Strictly Come Dancing | Himself | Won |
| 2009–2010 | SA's Got Talent | Himself | |
| 2014 | I Love South Africa | Himself | Guest |
| 2016 | Showville | Himself | |
| 2017 | Is That a Fact? | Himself | |
| 2020 | Queen Sono | Viljoen | Main role |
| 2021 | The Kingdom | Mr Angelo | Miniseries; main role |
| Comedy Mixtape | Himself | Episode 13 | |
| 2022 | Ludik | Swys De Villiers | 6 episodes[15] |
Stage edit
Theatre edit
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Shopping and F**king | Robbie | Gauloises Warehouse, Cape Town |
| 2000 | Birdy | Al | Tesson Theatre, Johannesburg / National Arts Festival |
| 2001 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Maynardville Open-Air Theatre, Cape Town | |
| Die Toneelstuk | Hond / Aljosja | Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees | |
| The Beauty Queen of Leenane | Ray Dooley | Baxter Theatre, Cape Town | |
| 2005, 2013 | The Three Little Pigs | Tour; writer[16] | |
| 2006 | The Best Man's Speech | — | Director |
| 2007 | Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead | Guildenstern | Baxter Theatre, Cape Town |
| Brother Number | Stan | Kalk Bay Theatre, Cape Town | |
| 2008 | Swazi | — | Director[17] |
| Mouche | |||
| Odd One Out | |||
| Isabella | |||
| 2008, 2019 | Electric Juju | One Man Show | Writer |
| 2012 | A Comedy of Errors | Dromio of Syracuse | Maynardville Open-Air Theatre, Cape Town |
| 2016 | A Doll's House | Nils Krogstad | National Arts Festival |
| 2016–2018 | Dangled | Poprischin | Tour |
| 2018 | Endgame | Clov | Baxter Theatre, Cape Town |
| Curse of the Starving Class | Ellis / Slater | Baxter Theatre, Cape Town / Woordfees, Stellenbosch | |
| 2023 | The Promise | Anton Swart | Homecoming Centre, Cape Town / Market Theatre, Johannesburg[18] |
Stand up edit
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2006–2007 | The Most Amazing Show | With Louw Venter |
| 2008 | Rob van Vuuren is Ron van Wuren | |
| 2011 | Rob van Vuuren – Live! | |
| 2012 | Pants on Fire | |
| 2013–2014 | WhatWhat | |
| 2019 | Best of Rob van Vuuren | |
| 2022 | Rob van Vuuren is Still Standing |
Awards and nominations edit
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Vita Awards | Best Actor | Birdy | Nominated | |
| 2001 | Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards | Best Supporting Actor | The Beauty Queen of Leenane | Nominated | |
| 2008 | South African Comedy Awards | One Man Show of the Year | Rob van Vuuren is Ron van Wuren | Nominated | |
| National Arts Festival | Nando's Breakthrough Act Award | Won | |||
| 2011 | Savanna Comics' Choice Awards | Breakthrough Act | Won | ||
| Ovation Awards | Silver | Rob van Vuuren – Live! | Won | ||
| 2012 | Won | ||||
| 2013 | WhatWhat | Won | |||
| 2016 | Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards | Best Supporting Actor | A Doll's House | Won | |
| Woordfees | Best Supporting Actor | Won | |||
| 2018 | Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards | Best Actor | Endgame | Nominated | |
| Best Supporting Actor | Curse of the Starving Class | Nominated | |||
| Dangled | Best Performance in a One Person Show | Nominated | |||
| 2021 | South African Horrorfest | Best Supporting Actor | Slumber Party Massacre | Nominated | |
| 2022 | South African Film and Television Awards | Best Supporting Actor in a TV Comedy | Comedy Mixtape | Pending | [19] |
References edit
- ^ "Roll with laughter with Rob". Weekend Post. 1 July 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
- ^ "Flies and mutant toenails". Rhodes University. 5 July 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
- ^ "Profile: Rob van Vuuren". What's On in Joburg. 18 May 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- ^ "Rob van Vuuren". Autograph. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- ^ "Who is Rob van Vuuren?". Channel24. 18 June 2008. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- ^ "Rob van Vuuren reminisces about taking part in Bailey's tribute to Mandela". Zalist.co.za. Archived from the original on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
- ^ "Rob Van Vuuren - What What". Jaco Haasbroek. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- ^ Wild, Stephi (31 October 2019). "BEST OF ROB VAN VUUREN Will Come to The Drama Factory". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- ^ "Rob van Vuuren and Siv Ngesi get silly in Copposites". Channel24. 18 October 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
- ^ "Riaad Moosa, Rob van Vuuren hit Comedy Central". DStv. 29 November 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
- ^ "It's no joke! Rob van Vuuren is bringing 'Van der Merwe' to life in new film". Times Live. 6 April 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
- ^ Kiewit, Lester (6 April 2022). "Rob van Vuuren is back with a new comedy show called "Rob van Vuuren is Still Standing"". Cape Talk. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
- ^ de Villiers, James (27 June 2020). "Saturday Profile: Rob Van Vuuren on blackface, his apology and leaving the hate behind". News24. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
- ^ Selisho, Kaunda (22 June 2020). "An apology done right, Rob Van Vuuren apologises for doing blackface". The Citizen. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
- ^ Staff Reporter (20 July 2022). "Netflix is getting its first series in Afrikaans". TechCentral. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
- ^ Yiga, Eugene (29 January 2013). "Rob van Vuuren and the Three Little Pigs". Biz Community. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- ^ "The many faces of Rob van Vuuren". Mail & Guardian. 4 July 2008. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- ^ McKay, Bronwyn (10 May 2023). "Star-studded team brings the world premiere of Damon Galgut's The Promise to the local stage". News24. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
- ^ Ferreira, Thinus (14 July 2022). "From The Wife to Tali's Baby Diary - All the 2022 Saftas nominations". Channel24. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
External links edit
- Rob van Vuuren at IMDb
- Rob van Vuuren at TVSA
- Rob van Vuuren at Artistes Personal Management
- Florence & Watson website