Robert Craig Jansen van Vuuren (born 26 March 1976) is a South African comedian, actor, presenter, theatre maker, and writer.

Early life

Van Vuuren was born in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, S ...

. He completed his matriculation at

Maritzburg College Maritzburg College is a semi-private English-medium high school for boys situated in the city of Pietermaritzburg, in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1863 and it's the oldest boys' high school in KwaZulu-Natal – and one of the o ...

before going on to graduate with a degree in Drama from

Rhodes University Rhodes University is a public university, public research university located in Makhanda, Eastern Cape, Makhanda (Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, ...

in 1997. During university, he joined the First Physical Theatre Company.

Career

Van Vuuren began his career in theatre, receiving

Vita Vita or VITA (plural vitae) is Latin for "life", and may refer to: * ''Vita'', the usual start to the title of a biography in Latin, by which (in a known context) the work is often referred to; frequently of a saint, then called hagiography * Vit ...

and

Fleur du Cap Theatre Award The Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards are annual South African theatre awards focusing on professional productions staged in and around Cape Town. Awards are presented in 20 categories. History The Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards were originally known a ...

nominations for his roles in the productions '' Birdy'' and ''The Beauty Queen of Leenane'' respectively. 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 ''Footskating 101'' is an independently produced, South African comedy film. Plot In order to save his grandmother, his town, and his own skin, Vince, a poor miner's son, takes part in a skateboarding competition without a skateboard. He inv ...

'' as Vince Muldoon. Van Vuuren and his dance partner Mary Martin won the fifth season of ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...

'' 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 The National Arts Festival (NAF) is an annual festival of performing arts in Grahamstown, South Africa. It is the largest arts festival on the African continent and one of the largest performing arts festivals in the world by visitor numbers. T ...

that year. Through Juju Productions, he directed a number of plays. He was invited by Brett Bailey to perform at

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the ...

's 90th birthday party in

Qunu Qunu () is a Xhosa rural village in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province, south-west of Mthatha on the road between Dutywa and Mthatha. The Mandela family Former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela was born near Qunu in the village ...

. 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 Standard Bank Group Limited is a major South African bank and financial services group. It is Africa's biggest lender by assets. The company's corporate headquarters, Standard Bank Centre, is situated in Simmonds Street, Johannesburg. History ...

Ovation Awards at the annual National Arts Festival. He has also taken his comedy shows abroad the likes of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, Brighton,

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics ...

, and

Sharjah Sharjah (; ar, ٱلشَّارقَة ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, forming part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area. Sharjah is the capital ...

. Van Vuuren starred opposite Siv Ngesi in the 2012 crime comedy film ''Copposites''. 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

. Van Vuuren starred as the titular role in the 2017 comedy film ''

Van der Merwe Van der Merwe is a common Afrikaans surname, derived from the Dutch ''van der Merwen'' ("from the Merwede"). It was brought to South Africa in 1661 by Dutch people employed by the Dutch East India Company. The progenitors of the extended clan ...

'', reuniting with Venter, who played his brother. 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 Endgame, Endgames, End Game, End Games, or similar variations may refer to: Film * ''The End of the Game'' (1919 film) * ''The End of the Game'' (1975 film), short documentary U.S. film * ''Endgame'' (1983 film), 1983 Italian post-apocalyptic f ...

'' and ''

Curse of the Starving Class ''Curse of the Starving Class'' is a play by Sam Shepard, considered the first of a series on family tragedies. Some critics consider it part of a Family Trilogy that includes '' Buried Child'' (1979) and '' True West'' (1980).Simard, Rodney. “Am ...

''. Van Vuuren joined the main cast of the 2020

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

crime drama ''

Queen Sono ''Queen Sono'' is a South African crime drama streaming television series created by Kagiso Lediga that premiered on Netflix on February 28, 2020. The series stars Pearl Thusi, Vuyo Dabula, Sechaba Morojele, Chi Mhende, Loyiso Madinga, Rob ...

'' 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

Van Vuuren was married to Danielle Bischoff, with whom he collaborated on Juju Productions and ''Florence & Watson'', from 2008 until sometime during lockdown. Van Vuuren and Bischoff had lived in Fish Hoek with their daughter, whom they adopted. Upon

Showmax Showmax is an online subscription video on demand (SVOD) service which launched in South Africa on 19 August 2015. Showmax uses a localisation strategy to take on established video on demand competitors with a focus on local content and partn ...

's 2020 decision to review content on its platform, van Vuuren issued an official apology for having engaged in

blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people, Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of ...

for a 2013 Leon Schuster film.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage

Theatre

Stand up

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Rob van Vuuren
at TVSA
Rob van Vuuren
at Artistes Personal Management
''Florence & Watson'' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Van vuuren, rob Living people 1976 births 21st-century South African male actors People from Port Elizabeth Alumni of Maritzburg College Rhodes University alumni South African male comedians South African male stage actors South African television personalities Strictly Come Dancing winners