Robert Haber

Robert Haber (1929-1998) was an actor and painter. Occasionally credited as Bob Haber.

Biography

Robert Stanley Haber was born in Los Angeles on 2 February 1929 to Stanley and Dora Haber. The family came to South Africa when he was a boy and Robert appeared on the stage from 1949 onward. Blessed with good looks, he was the romantic lead in many plays, notably for Brian Brooke. He had a season with Leonard Schach’s Cockpit Players, starred with Heather Lloyd-Jones in the smash hit Irma la Douce (1960) and followed this with The World of Suzie Wong (1961). In 1961 he announced that he would be giving up the stage to become a fashion consultant for a Johannesburg apartment store and after that he appeared in only one more play, namely Sunday in New York (1962). Following this he turned to the travel business and for some twenty years organised student tours of Europe. He also became a more than competent painter and took part in many exhibitions. Between 1986 and 1992 he took small roles in a number of somewhat indifferent films. At that time he also made a brief return to the stage and acted in The Marriage-Go-Round and Rough Crossing, both staged at the Baxter Theatre. He died in 1998.

Trivia: In 1963 it was announced that his parents would be starting a motel in Colesberg that was to be called the Merino Inn. The Merino Inn still exists today.

Credits

Theatre

1949 – [[Home of the Brave]] (Producer: Bruce Anderson), 1953 – Pick-up girl (Producer: Taubie Kushlick), 1955 – The Big Knife (Producer: Mike Abel), 1958 – His Excellency (Producer: Minna Schneier), 1958 – The Matchmaker (Producer: Leonard Schach), 1959 – Murder without Crime (Producer: John Boulter), 1959 – The Grass is Greener (Producer: Petrina Fry), 1960 – Irma la Douce (Producer: Brian Brooke), 1960 – Lock Up Your Daughters (Producer: Leonard Schach), 1961 – Roar Like a Dove (Producer: Brian Brooke), 1961 – The World of Suzie Wong (Producer: Brian Brooke), 1961 – George and Margaret (Producer: Robert Langford), 1962 – Sunday in New York (Producer: Taubie Kushlick), 1985 – The Marriage-Go-Round (Producer: Rex Garner), 1987 – Rough Crossing (Producer: Robert Whitehead).

Films

1959 – Safari South / Vakansieverskeidenheid (uc) (documentary short) (Director: Sven Persson), 1986 – Hostage (Director: Hanro Möhr), 1987 – Rage to Kill (Director: David Winters), 1987 – White Ghost (Director: BJ Davis), 1988 – Captive Rage / Blood Ransom / Fair Trade (Director: Cedric Sundström), 1988 – Big Game (Director: Chris du Toit), 1989 – Return to Justice (Director: Vincent G. Cox), 1992 – The Lost World (Director: Timothy Bond), 1992 – Return to the Lost World (Director: Timothy Bond).

Television

1956 – By an African Campfire (Episode: Rogue elephant) (British TV series filmed in South Africa) (Director: Darcy Conyers), 1987 – The Mantis Project (TV series) (Director: Manie van Rensburg).

Sources

Rand Daily Mail (various issues)

Sunday Times (various issues)

Rough Crossing programme, 1987-1988.

Tucker, 1997. 122, 141.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0352198/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3

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