Sandra Prinsloo (born 15 September 1947), also known as Sandra Prinzlow, is a South African actress best known internationally for her role as Kate Thompson in the 1980 film '' The Gods Must Be Crazy''. Prinsloo has also appeared in numerous South African

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

, film, and stage productions.

Early life and career

Prinsloo has stated that she never expected to become an actress."Behind the Icon – Leading Lady: Sandra Prinsloo"
News 24. 21 December 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2015. "I was a ballet dancer from a very early age and I remember that I occasionally ushered at the Breytenbach Theatre in Pretoria when I was in high school. That’s the first time I came into contact with professional stage acting, but I never thought I’d be an actress . . . . I think I was far too shy in those days to ever think I could be an actress. So it wasn’t like I had this great big burning passion to become an actress, not at all. I preferred an academic life, in a way. When I went to university, I thought that was going to be what I was going to do". Prinsloo matriculated from the

Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool Pretoria (Colloquially known as Meisies Hoër) is a public, Afrikaans medium high school for girls situated in the suburb of Clydesdale in Pretoria in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It is the sister school o ...

and then completed her B.A. honours in drama at the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 ...

. Soon after, she became a member of the Performing Arts Council Transvaal acting company. "One night we were performing and it was as if something absolutely magical happened. It was as if a golden net was cast down. Everything was magical that evening and everybody felt it in the cast ... It was something enchanting that happens in the exchange of the energy between the audience and the actors". Prinsloo has said that after that night, she realised that acting was her calling.

Film career

In addition to her well-known role in ''The Gods Must Be Crazy,'' Prinsloo has had major roles in ''Target of an Assassin'' (1979), ''Quest for Love'' (1988), ''Die Prins van Pretoria'' (1992), ''Soweto Green'' (1995), n Paw Paw Vir My Darling'' (2015), ''Twee Grade van Moord'' (2016).Sandra Prinsloo
Internet Movie Database (IMDB). Retrieved 31 May 2015.

Television career

Prinsloo was in the original cast of '' Egoli: Place of Gold,'' South Africa's first soap opera. For many years, she hosted her own talk show, ''RaakPraat met Sandra,'' on South Africa television. She has also conducted a series of interviews with personalities and celebrities for South African TV, ''Sandra Op 'n Drafstap.''"The Prinsloo Phenomenon"
''Tonight'' (South Africa). 18 December 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2015. Prinsloo has acted in a number of South African television series and movies throughout her career, including ''Erfsondes'' (2012); ''Hartland'' (2011); ''Known Gods'' (2005); ''Saints, Sinners, and Settlers'' (1999); and ''Konings'' (1991) among others.

Theatre career

Prinsloo has performed in more than 100 different productions, often playing leading roles in works by South African and international dramatists. In 1985, Prinsloo and fellow actor

John Kani Bonisile John Kani (born 30 August 1943) is a South African actor, author, director and playwright. He is known for portraying T'Chaka in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films '' Captain America: Civil War'' (2016) and ''Black Panther'' (2018), ...

caused a South African audience walk-out when performing the play ''

Miss Julie ''Miss Julie'' ( sv, Fröken Julie) is a naturalistic play written in 1888 by August Strindberg. It is set on Midsummer's Eve and the following morning, which is Midsummer and the Feast Day of St. John the Baptist. The setting is an estate of ...

'' by

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...

."Walkout over Black-White Love Scene". ''Courier-Mail'' (Australia). 8 March 1985. Retrieved 2 September 2014 from Lexis-Nexis database. In the title role, Prinsloo played a white woman seducing a black man. The play marked the first on-stage occurrence of a black man kissing a white woman under the

Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

regime. The play's producer, Bobby Heaney, speculated that the walk-out was "part of a well planned campaign by conservative whites". Both Kani and Prinsloo had to be escorted into the parking lot after each performance of ''Miss Julie,'' as there was fear that the actors would be attacked by "enraged right-wingers".Smith, Janet.
Kani's King Lear moment
. ''The Star'' (Johannesburg). 13 February 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2015. Prinsloo reportedly received obscene hate mail and both received death threats. When interviewed in 2014 for the ''21 Icons Project'', a series of short films about South Africans "who have shaped the world around them","About the Project"
21 Icons. Retrieved 6 June 2015. Prinsloo commented that ""I thought

he play He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

would cause a stir, but I didn’t think it would cause a minor revolution. People were very small-minded and I suppose you live in a bit of a fool’s paradise when you’re an actor". The actors later performed the play at the

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh F ...

. In 1986, Heaney directed a TV movie of the play for Swedish and Finnish television, which starred both Prinsloo and Kani. Prinsloo returned to the Edinburgh Festival in 2012 with ''The Sewing Machine,'' an English-language translation of the Afrikaans-language play, ''Die Naaimasjien.'' In the 2000s, Prinsloo appeared on the South African stage in productions of ''Oskar en die Pienk Tannie; Janneman; Nag, Ma (Night Mother);'' and ''Liefde, Anna.'' In October 2015, Prinsloo portrayed South African journalist,

Jani Allan Jani Allan (born 11 September 1952) is a South African journalist, columnist, writer and broadcaster. She became one of the country's first media celebrities in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1980, Allan became a columnist for the centrist newspaper, ...

in ''Jani'' at the

Aardklop Aardklop is an annual South African arts festival held in Potchefstroom, South Africa. Potchefstroom has always been a cultural city and home to several well-known South African writers and artists. The Aardklop National Arts Festival has been ...

festival.

Awards

In 2013, Prinsloo received the ACT Lifetime Achievement Award for Theatre."Celebrating artists who touch our lives"
''Tonight'' (South Africa). 19 November 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2015. The awards are offered annually by the Arts and Culture Trust (ACT) of South Africa in order to "honour arts professionals whose extraordinary careers have had a profound and lasting impact on arts, culture and heritage, and whose lifetime achievements have contributed significantly to the enrichment of cultural life in South Africa". In 2014, Prinsloo was the recipient of a national order by the South African government, the

Order of Ikhamanga The Order of Ikhamanga is a South African honour. It was instituted on 30 November 2003 and is granted by the President of South Africa for achievements in arts, culture, literature, music, journalism, and sports (which were initially recognised b ...

in silver, for those whose outstanding work has benefited South Africa. National orders are bestowed on South Africa's Freedom Day. The orders celebrate human achievement in various fields, honouring men and women who have left definitive footprints in both the struggle for liberation and in building a better South Africa. In 2018, Prinsloo was the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the

Naledi Theatre Awards The Naledi Theatre Awards are annual South African national theatre awards held in Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gaut ...

."Complete list of winners in 2018 Naledi Theatre Awards"
''Artsvark'', 19 June 2018. The awards are offered annually by the Naledi Theatre Awards Committee.

Education

Prinsloo matriculated from the Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool. She holds the degree B.A. (Honours) from the University of Pretoria.http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/sandra-prinsloo-5555 Sandra Prinsloo Retrieved 29 December 2012

Partial filmography

* ''The Seagull (Die Seemeeu)'' (2019) * ''Twee Grade van Moord'' (2016) * n Paw-Paw vir My Darling'' (2015) * ''Soweto Green'' (1995) * ''The Prince of Pretoria'' (1993) * ''In the Name of Blood'' (1990) * '' Quest for Love'' (1988) * '' Thieves of Fortune'' (1988) * ''Jewel of the Gods'' (1989) * ''The Outcast'' (1984) * ''Claws'' (1982) * '' The Gods Must Be Crazy'' (1980) * ''Listen to My Story'' (1976) * ''

Target of an Assassin ''Target of an Assassin'' is a 1977 South African thriller film directed by Peter Collinson and starring Anthony Quinn and John Phillip Law. It was completed in South Africa in 1976 as ''Tigers Don't Cry'', but was not put into general American ...

'' (1976) * ''

No Gold for a Dead Diver ''No Gold for a Dead Diver'' (german: Ein toter Taucher nimmt kein Gold) is a 1974 West German adventure film directed by Harald Reinl and starring Horst Janson, Monika Lundi and Marius Weyers.Bock & Bergfelder p. 390 A thriller about deep sea ...

'' (1974) – as Sandra Prinzlow * ''

Love Nights in the Taiga ''Love Nights in the Taiga'' (German: ''Liebesnächte in der Taiga'') is a 1967 West German thriller film directed by Harald Philipp and starring Thomas Hunter, Marie Versini and Stanislav Ledinek.Cowie & Elley p.148 It is also known by the alter ...

'' (1967)

References

External links

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