Graham Weir

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Graham Weir (1959-2020) Actor, singer, playwright.

Biography

Born in Scotland, Weir came to South Africa at the age of 5, when his parents settled in Benoni on the East Rand. His sister is the actress and singer Christine Weir. The Weir siblings had their initial exposure to stage performance with the musical evenings regularly held at their home and the amateur theatre company and and choir founded by his parents. His first stage role was in Oliver Twist for this group.

Graham studied for a year at Wits Drama school and then obtained a National Diploma in Dramatic Art, at the Pretoria Technikon (Tshwane University of Technology in 1980. Then he went to England to dodge the draft, before returning to work in theatre in a variety of capacities.

Graham passed away in Cape Town of a stroke on 1 December, 2020.

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

He began his career as a performer with PACT in 1981, appearing in 24 productions for themlater becoming a free-lance artist.

In 1985 he and his sister founded the hugely successful a cappella group Not the Midnight Mass, which also featured Jenny de Lenta, Alan Glass and Graham Clarke, performing songs and comedy.

His numerous stage appearances as actor have included roles in The Dybbuk (1986), Macbeth (as "Ross", 1996), Lost in the Stars (199&/9?), The Winter's Tale (Maynardville), Jesus Hopped The 'A' Train (2003), Waiting for Godot, The Blue Iris (2012).

Roles in musical productions include shows like Jesus Christ Superstar (Durban Playhouse, 1991), Sweeney Todd, Queen at the Opera, The Shakespeare Revue (1997)

During the course of his 40 year long career he wrote, directed and performed in a number of his own plays and musical pieces, among them BoBo (a play for solo performance, 1987); Barney is Making a Party (a play for 3 actors, 1988); Psychedelic Cowboy and Sister Nun (a musical for 6 performers, 1992); Brief Descriptions 2 (a play for one man, 1994);

2015 Dead Yellow Sands – a play for solo performance 2009 Noah of Cape Town – an accapella musical for 16 actor/singers 2008 Songs of Hanging and Redemption – a cabaret for 3 musicians 2002/8 Letters from Patient Essop – one man musical with small band 2006 How Graham Weir Accidentally Managed to Stay Alive – one man comedy 2001 Craneman – a play for 3 actors and a 3-piece band 1998 Tales from a Dark Corner – a one man drama 1997 Graham Weir's Elastic Band






Tales from a Dark Corner (), Letters from Patient Essop (2001), Psychedelic Cowboy (Baxter Theatre, 19**), Sister Nun (Baxter, 19**), How Graham Weir Accidentally Managed to Stay Alive (Kalk Bay Theatre, 2005), Noah (with Megan Choritz), Artscape New Writer’s Programme 2005, Songs of Hangings and Redemptions (directed by Megan Choritz, Kalk Bay Theatre, 2006), Dead Yellow Sands (2016).

He appeared in numerous feature films and TV dramas and series, including:

Film: Van der Merwe P.I. ("Rocco", 1985), Boesman and Lena (2001), Goodbye Bafana ("Tough warder, 2007), Spud ("Viking", 2010), Once Upon a Road Trip ("James", 2013), Spud 3: Learning to Fly ("Viking", 2014), Bentley, Boesman & Lena, Merchants of War, Pursuit

Television: Bentley ("Bentley", 2006), To Be First ("David Hume", 2007), The Devil's Whore ("Sergeant at Arms", 2008), Crusoe ("Rebel Soldier", 2008), Of Kings and Prophets (), Black Sails ("Captain Naft", 2014-5), Jamillah and Aladdin (2016), Hotel ("Oom Dirk", 2016-2017),. Van der Merwe ("Doctor", 2017),




2006Bentley (TV Series)

Bentley

2004Charlie

Barrack Sergeant

2002The Piano Player

Sick Man

2002Mama Africa (segment "Raya")
2001Raya (Short)
2000Boesman and Lena

Recycle man

1999Aces (Short)
1999From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter (Video)

Lazaro

1997The Adventures of Sinbad (TV Series)

Ruane - The Invaders (1997) ... Ruane

1994The Visual Bible: Acts (Video)

Bar-Jesus

1993Tropical Heat (TV Series)

Ted Waltham - Slumming It (1993) ... Ted Waltham

1993Cyborg Cop

Local 1 Jive

1993Sentinel (TV Movie)

Anvil (1993)

1991Pursuit

Gen. Carlos Da Costa

1990Return to Justice

Jackal

1990Thieves of Fortune

Pirana

1990Burndown

Freddie

1989Final Cut

Snuff Movie Director

1989Rising Storm

Gerard de la Fanool

1989In the Name of Blood

Art

1989Merchants of War

Vaisal

1987An African Dream

Lout 1 (Ned)

1985Van der Merwe P.I.

Rocco

Awards, etc

The 1993-1994 National Vita Award for Best Playwright was awarded to him for Brief Descriptions II and he received two Fleur du Cap Awards, one for Not the Midnight Mass in 2009 and a second in 2016 for Dead Yellow Sands.


Sources

https://samanthabernhardi.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/graham-weir-sbam-cv-may2018.pdf

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0918590/

The Dybbuk programme, 1986.

"Akteur Graham Weir sterf skielik", Die Burger 2 December, 2020 (P. 3)

Go to South African Theatre/Bibliography

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