Ian Roberts
Acting • Born 1951-11-30
Biography
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.
Filmography
52 credits
Bakgat!
Movie • 2008
Basjan du Preez
Cry, the Beloved Country
Movie • 1995
Evans
Red Dust
Movie • 2004
Piet Müller
Tarzan and the Lost City
Movie • 1998
Captain Dooley
Bakgat 2
Movie • 2010
Basjan du Preez
You Must Be Joking! Too
Movie • 1987
Various
Paljas
Movie • 1998
Frans
The Crossing
Movie • 1988
A Reasonable Man
Movie • 1999
Chris Van Rooyen
Wild Maneuvres
Movie • 1985
Corp. White
Kalahari Harry
Movie • 1994
Kalahari Harry Morgan
Heroes
Movie • 1986
Hendrik 'Hennie' du Preez
The Horse Smuggler
Movie • 1982
Anna Meintjies
Movie • 1983
Askari
Movie • 2001
Ripshaw
Cape Rebel
Movie • 1989
Sloet Steenkamp
Bakgat 3
Movie • 2013
Basjan
The Race-Ist
Movie • 2010
Noel Oosthuizen
Eternity
Movie • 2010
Professor Tevis Shapiro
Babalas
Movie • 2013
Boet
The Fourth Reich
Movie • 1990
Johannes van der Walt
Musiek Vir Die Agtergrond
Movie • 2013
Chris
The Windmill
Movie • 2014
Doctor Rossouw
Stuur Groete Aan Mannetjies Roux
Movie • 2013
Frans
Tsotsi
Movie • 2005
Captain Smit
I Dreamed of Africa
Movie • 2000
Mike Donovan
Inside
Movie • 1996
Guard Moolman
Sweepers
Movie • 1998
Yager
Tremors 5: Bloodlines
Movie • 2015
Den Bravers
Van der Merwe
Movie • 2017
Oupa Van der Merwe
Dancing in the Forest
Movie • 1988
Thor
Mia and the White Lion
Movie • 2018
John's Father
Cyborg Cop III
Movie • 1995
Sheen
In a Time of Violence: The Line
Movie • 1994
Lt. Danie Visser
The Power of One
Movie • 1992
Hoppie Gruenewald
Number 10
Movie • 2006
Marius Kramer
Mandela and de Klerk
Movie • 1997
Kobie Coetsee
Jane and the Lost City
Movie • 1987
Carl
Pusha Pressa Phanda
Movie • 2021
A Kind of Madness
Movie • 2025
Dan Hart
Night of Fear
Movie • 1986
Steve Vosloo
Arsenaal
TV • 2002
Jack Degenaar
Cape Town
TV • 2016
Gerbrand Vos
Erfsondes
TV • 2007
Pote du Toit
Wasted Spring
TV • 1983
Hermaans Cronjé
King Solomon's Mines
TV • 2004
Sir Henry
The Wild
TV • 2011
Karel van Reenen
Onder Draai Die Duiwel Rond
TV • 1997
Thys Tredoux
Musiekpaniek
TV • 2020
Self
Arende
TV • 1989
Sloet Steenkamp
Appels en Tee
TV • 2025
Jakkals Boshoff
Daisy de Melker
TV • 1993
Sid de Melker