Eugenie Heyns

Eugenie Heyns (b. 11/06/1925 – d. **/**/****) was a stage and film actress.

Biography

Though her parents were not keen on her following a theatrical career, Eugenie Heyns joined the student group Voorslag-Geselskap while studying for a degree at the University of Pretoria. This was followed by a number of leading parts for the Volksteater under Anna Neethling-Pohl. Her stage appearances included Skewe Straatjie (1945), with Jan Schutte and Gert van den Bergh; an Afrikaans version of The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1949) produced by Marjorie Swinford-Mayer for Johannesburgse Afrikaanse Amateur Toneelspelers; the female lead in Romeo and Juliet (1949) opposite Leon Gluckman, directed by André van Gyseghem and staged at the Wits Great Hall and the Pretoria Opera House for the Johannesburg Repertory Theatre to celebrate its 21st anniversary; and two small parts in Macbeth, with André Huguenet and Anna Neethling-Pohl for the Nasionale Toneelorganisasie (NTO).

While at the Volksteater she was spotted by director Pierre de Wet and given a screen test for his first film as director and hers as an actress, Pinkie se Erfenis (1946). They subsequently married and she acted in three more films, all directed by her husband: Geboortegrond (1946), Simon Beyers (1947) and Kom Saam Vanaand! (1949). (FO)

Sources

Stage and Cinema, 23 August 1946

Binge, L.W.B. - Ontwikkeling van die Afrikaanse toneel

Botha, Danie - Voetligte en applous!

Le Roux, André I. & Fourie, Lilla – Filmverlede: geskiedenis van die Suid-Afrikaanse speelfilm

Tucker, Percy - Just the ticket!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4628344/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

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