Biography
Ian Roberts is a South African actor, playwright and singer. He was born on 30 November 1951 in Fort Beaufort and raised on a citrus farm near the town. He attended St Andrew's Preparatory School and St Andrew's College in Grahamstown, completed national service in the South African Army in 1971, and later studied at Rhodes University, where he took a BA in Speech, Drama and Social Anthropology.
Roberts is known for film roles including Hoppie Gruenewald in The Power of One (1992), Captain Smit in Tsotsi (2005), Chris Van Rooyen in A Reasonable Man (1999), and Sir Henry in King Solomon's Mines (2004). He also played Mike Donovan in I Dreamed of Africa (2000) and Piet Müller in Red Dust (2004). On television he has appeared in series such as Arende, and he is recognised for his long-running portrayal of the character Boet in Castrol motor oil advertisements. He was married to actress Michelle Botes; the couple divorced in 1999.
