Gérard Rudolf is a South African actor. He has starred in many TV series and films since 1992, including the 2013 Bengali film ''

Chander Pahar ''Chander Pahar'' () is a Bengali language, Bengali adventure novel written by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay and published in 1937. The novel follows the adventures of a young Bengali people, Bengali man in the forests of Africa. The novel is o ...

'' and the

SABC 3 SABC 3, also branded as S3, is a South African free-to-air television channel owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). Since March 2024, it carries programming in English and Afrikaans only. History On 1 January 1982, two tel ...

soap ''

Isidingo ''Isidingo'' was a South African soap opera, with dialogue mostly in English and isiXhosa. The series premiered on SABC 3 in July 1998 and was broadcast evenings on SABC 3 from Monday to Friday at 19:00. Until 2001 it was titled ''Isidingo: The ...

''. He stars as Boef Beukes in the 2023

M-Net M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

series '' Devil's Peak'', based on the novel of the same name by

Deon Meyer Deon Godfrey Meyer is a South African thriller novelist, writing primarily in Afrikaans. His works have been translated into 28 languages. He has also written numerous scripts for television and film. Early life and education Deon Meyer was ...

Early life and education

Gérard Rudolf was born in

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

, South Africa, but spent most of his younger years in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

and then his teenage years in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

. After completing high school he did two years of

compulsory military service Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it contin ...

, and was sent to fight in the Angolan War. In 1987 he joined the drama school at the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria (, ) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and ''de facto'' capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 as the Pretoria campus of the Johan ...

, where he graduated in 1989.

Career

Rudolf joined the

CAPAB The Cape Performing Arts Board (CAPAB) was a South African theatre organisation based in Cape Town, serving the former Cape Province. It was one of the four state-funded performing arts councils in the four former provinces of South Africa inst ...

(Cape Performing Arts Board) drama company for a year, during which he performed on stage in Shakespeare plays, comedies, and dramas. He left the company in 1991 to start his own theatre company called Makeshift Moon, specialising in original South African works. In the same year, he developed an interest in film and appeared in several roles over the following decade, beginning in 1992 with the series '' Arende II''. He received some notoriety as an outspoken opponent to the

Apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

regime at the time, and he also campaigned against forced

military conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

. In 2013, Rudolf played Diego Alvarez in the award-winning

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

film ''

'', opposite Bengali star Dev (Bengali). Based on the 1937 adventure novel of the same name, which was filmed in South Africa. He described the role as "the most challenging and beautiful character I have ever played". From 2017 until mid-2019, Rudolf played Hendrik Lategan in the

soap ''

'', before his character suddenly dies of a

brain aneurysm An intracranial aneurysm, also known as a cerebral aneurysm, is a cerebrovascular disorder characterized by a localized dilation or ballooning of a blood vessel in the brain due to a weakness in the vessel wall. These aneurysms can occur in an ...

. In 2018, he starred in ''Kanarie'', a "coming-of-age musical war drama" set in South Africa in the 1980s. Rudolf played Boef Beukes in the 2023 crime drama series '' Devil's Peak''.

Other roles and activities

In 1998, he started his own acting school in Cape Town, but left after feeling burnt out in 2002. Rudolf published a collection of poetic writings in 2009, titled ''Orphaned Latitudes''.

Personal life

Rudolf divorced his wife after quitting his acting school in 2002 and moved to the United Kingdom, returning in 2010 to

Publications

Filmography

Selected Filmography :

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudolf, Gerard Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Male actors from Pretoria University of Pretoria alumni Afrikaner people South African male actors