Anton Ackermann
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Anton Ackermann
(1911-1971) Afrikaans actor, director and theatre manager. Started as actor for the Wena Naude Geselskap in the early 1930s. In 1935 he left to found the Ackermann-Nell Geselskap, with * Nell as financier. He took Sannie Uys with him, renaming her Pikkie Uys, the name under which she became nationally known. Later married her. Had roles in Die verstoteling (Wena Naudé-Willem van Zyl Geselskap, 1933), and with his own company produced and acted in plays such as Hand van die Gereg, Wittebroodsdae and an acclaimed Afrikaans version of Shaw’s Pygmalion (Koop my Blomme) between 1935 and 1940. Became involved in an attempt to form an Afrikaans professional actor’s body (Die Toneelbond) in 1936, but nothing came of it. He, and especially Pikkie Uys, also became popular film stars in the late 1940s. Like so many of his generation he had learnt his craft from the Paul de Groot and André Huguenet companies and tended to assume an artificial stage accent. (For example, he was castigated by F.E.J. Malherbe for his Huguenet-Dutch accent in Koop my Blomme) (Binge, 1969; Huguenet, 1961) [TH]
Anton Ackermann Geselskap, Die
An Afrikaans touring theatrical company founded by Anton Ackerman in 1935 as the Ackermann-Nell Geselskap with * Nell (the former as the artistic director, the latter the financier). Later renamed simply the Anton Ackermann Geselskap. The company included Sannie Uys, whom he renamed Pikkie Uys, Hans Brits (later to be known as Don Siebritz), and Benn Potgieter. The company toured for * years, inter alia with **, Koop my Blomme ("Buy my flowers", Shaw's Pygmalion, 1940), *****
Ackermann-Nell Geselskap, Die. ("The Ackermann-Nell Company").
Founded in 1935 by Anton Ackermann and * Nell (the former the artistic director, the latter the financier).
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