Dawid Minnaar

He is also known for his work in feature films such as Fiela se Kind (Fiela’s Child), in the role of Benjamin Komoetie, and Die Wonderwerker (The Wonder Worker) in which he played the iconic Afrikaans poet, healer and naturalist, Eugène Marais. Both of these films were directed by the veteran director Katinka Heyns.

Minnaar was born on the 18th of July 1956 in Upington, a town on the banks of the Orange River in the Northern Cape province of South Africa.  He, however, grew up on a farm in the southwestern part of Namibia, near the tiny hamlet of Helmeringhausen in the Bethanie district. He went to primary school in Bethanie and matriculated at Paarl Boys’ High, eventually completing his drama studies at the Universities of Stellenbosch and Cape Town, where he obtained a BA and honours degree.

After the completion of his studies, Dawid became a member of SWAPAC (the then South West African Performing Arts Council) in 1981, where he stayed for a year before returning to Cape Town, where he worked for another four years, two as a freelance actor and two as a member of Capab (the then Cape Performing Arts Council). During this time, he focused solely on stage work, thrice working with the wonderfully innovative German director Peter Kleinschmidt and the avant-garde and provocative Chris Pretorius, amongst others. During this time, he accepted only minor roles for television - in Sagmoedige Neelsie (Sweet Tempered Neelsie), directed by the brilliant Manie van Rensburg and Die Sondaar (The Sinner ), directed by the equally gifted Annie Basson.

In 1986, Dawid moved to Johannesburg and further cemented his reputation as a stage actor by working extensively at the world-renowned Market Theater under the direction of his mentor, Barney Simon and others such as Lucille Gillwald, Claire Stopford, Malcolm Purkey, Charmaine Weir-Smith and Robin Orlin. He then filmed Fiela se Kind (Fiela’s Child) in the late eighties, and it was only in the early nineties that he landed the role of Dolf Groenewal in Konings (Kings) and Torings (Towers). This eventually led to several more television productions, such as A Soldier’s Tale, Uitdraai, (the name of a farm, meaning to turn off) and Amalia, amongst others, as well as stints on the soapies Sewende Laan (Seventh Avenue) and Binnelanders (The name of a hospital).

In 1995, Minnaar started working with the internationally acclaimed South African artist, animation guru and theatre maker William Kentridge and the Handspring Puppet Company on Faustus in Africa, the first of four collaborative projects involving these intensely creative and visionary artists. The other productions were Ubu and the Truth Commission, Zeno at 4 AM and The Confessions of Zeno. These works ended up having multiple and widespread international tours and exposure.

He also embarked on another international tour with the Ford Foundation’s sponsored production, Truth in Translation.  In 2019, he also performed in Athol Fugard’s A Lesson from Aloes at the Finborough Theatre in London under the direction of the renowned Janet Suzman.

His international television credits include the Canadian series Madiba, in which he played PW Botha (the then Prime Minister of the South African Apartheid regime). He also recently played Joseph Stalin in the History Channel series on the life of Franklin D. Roosevelt, directed by Malcolm Venville, in which he had to learn his dialogue in Russian.

Minnaar has also been involved in numerous stage productions for the various Afrikaans Theatre Festivals annually in different towns around the country. Many of these were directed by the multiple award-winning director Marthinus Basson, but he has also worked for Philip Rademeyer, Wessel Pretorius, and Christiaan Olwagen.

His latest stage productions include Die Moeder (The Mother), directed by Christiaan Olwagen and Mirakel (Miracle), directed by Marthinus Basson.

Recent television productions include the telenovela Legacy, in the role of Willem Potgieter and Kat Koekemoer in Koek (Cake). Minnaar has been nominated multiple times for his work on stage and in front of the camera. He has won Best Actor stage awards for Diepe Grond (African Gothic), Nag Generaal (Goodnight General), Mirakel (Miracle), Macbeth - Slapeloos (Macbeth - Sleepless) and Kafka Dances.

The Supporting Actor awards were for Ek, Anna van Wyk (I, Anna van Wyk), Scenes from an Execution, and Die Huis van Bernarda Alba (The House of Bernarda Alba). He also won The Tempo Best Actor film award for his work in Die Wonderwerker (The Wonder Worker) and recently won the Best Supporting Actor prize at the Silwerskerm Fees awards ( Silver Screen Festival awards ) for his work as Kat Koekemoer in the Showmax series Koek (Cake).