Jacobus Johannes Uys (; 30 May 1921 – 29 January 1996), better known as Jamie Uys, was a South African film director, best known for directing the 1980

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

The Gods Must Be Crazy ''The Gods Must Be Crazy'' is a 1980 comedy film written, produced, edited and directed by Jamie Uys. An international co-production of South Africa and Botswana, it is the first film in ''The Gods Must Be Crazy'' series. Set in Southern Africa ...

'' and its 1989 sequel ''

The Gods Must Be Crazy II ''The Gods Must Be Crazy II'' is a 1989 comedy film written and directed by Jamie Uys, and a sequel to the 1980 film ''The Gods Must Be Crazy'', which Uys also wrote and directed. An international co-production between South Africa, Botswana an ...

''. Uys also directed the 1974

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

Animals Are Beautiful People ''Animals Are Beautiful People'' (also called ''Beautiful People'') is a 1974 South African nature documentary written, produced, directed, filmed and edited by Jamie Uys, about the wildlife in Southern Africa, presented with comedic elements. ...

''.

Early life

Before his foray into film, Uys was a mathematics teacher in his hometown of

Boksburg Boksburg is a city on the East Rand of Gauteng province of South Africa. Gold was discovered in Boksburg in 1887. Boksburg was named after the State Secretary of the South African Republic, W. Eduard Bok. The Main Reef Road linked Boksburg ...

. He then married Hettie, a fellow mathematics teacher, and the couple started farming and opening trading posts along the

Palala River The Palala or Lephalala River, also called the Impala, ''Rhooebok-river'' by Thomas Baines, is a river in South Africa. This river's catchment basin is a sub-watershed of the Limpopo River. It is a significant watercourse in the Waterberg Biosphe ...

. He was later appointed local magistrate and Justice of the Peace. In an interview, he stated, "Every Tuesday I crossed the wildest country and swam through rivers to get to the police post where I could hold court".

Career

He made his debut as a film director in 1951 with the Afrikaans-language film ''

Daar doer in die bosveld ''Daar doer in die bosveld'' ( ''Far Away in the Bushveld'') is the first film by the South African director Jamie Uys. It was originally released in 1951. The film is in the Afrikaans language, a language specific to Southern Africa. Plot Th ...

''. He directed 24 films. He founded a company with

Tommie Meyer Thomas William Saymoir Meyer (28 February 1928 – 6 November 2017) was a South African film producer. Producing career His first movie as producer was released on 18 June 1969. He produced 33 movies between 1969 and 1994. He joined a company ...

but later they split up. Uys received the 1981 Grand Prix at the Festival International du Film de Comedie of Vevey for ''

'', and in 1974 he received the Hollywood Foreign Press Association award for best documentary for ''Animals Are Beautiful People''. ''Animals Are Beautiful People'' is about the plant and animal life in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

and

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

, especially desert creatures. A highlight of the film includes a scene with

elephants Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae and ...

warthog ''Phacochoerus'' is a genus in the family Suidae, commonly known as warthogs (pronounced ''wart-hog''). They are pigs who live in open and semi-open habitats, even in quite arid regions, in sub-Saharan Africa. The two species were formerly cons ...

s, monkeys and other animals staggering around after eating rotten, fermented marula fruit. Jamie Uys is credited with this legend of animals getting intoxicated on fermented marula fruits. In truth the amount of alcohol in the fermented fruit is so minuscule it could not cause intoxication without eating way more than the animals are physically capable of. The use of footage of drugged and drunk animals in this movie started this legend, the drugged animals being filmed in early experiments with the immobilizing drug M99

Etorphine Etorphine (M99) is a semi-synthetic opioid possessing an analgesic potency approximately 1,000–3,000 times that of morphine. It was first prepared in 1960 from oripavine, which does not generally occur in opium poppy extract but rather the r ...

and the drunk baboons had been fed fruit soaked in alcohol, also as an experiment:personal communication(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MxNLg3rCdw). Jamie Uys's most financially successful and well-known film is ''

'', a comedy first released in 1980. The film features a San hunter/gatherer named N!xau in the lead role. Its plot concerns a

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

bottle that was thrown out of an airplane, fell into the

Kalahari Desert The Kalahari Desert is a large semi-arid sandy savanna in Southern Africa extending for , covering much of Botswana, and parts of Namibia and South Africa. It is not to be confused with the Angolan, Namibian, and South African Namib coastal de ...

and was found by a San tribe. As this was the only "modern" object in their world, it led to strife and it was decided that the bottle had to be returned to the Gods, who must have sent it in the first place. The character played by N!xau was given the task to return it. The movie generated extensive word-of-mouth success in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, with the movie rights initially being sold to 45 countries. It spawned a less successful sequel, ''

''. Uys had earlier made another film set substantially in the Kalahari Desert: '' Lost in the Desert'', which tells the story of 8-year-old Dirkie Hayes's efforts to survive in the desert after surviving a plane crash, whilst his father Anton mounts increasingly desperate efforts to find him. As well as directing the film, Jamie Uys also played the part of Anton, and his son Wynand Uys played the part of Dirkie. Some early sources and credits name the director and actor of Anton's part as Jamie Hayes, and name Wynand Uys as Dirkie Hayes, but the relatively recent DVD release of the movie is attributed to their real names. Uys's other well-known film was ''Funny People'' in 1977, which was a comedy in the same genre as ''

Candid Camera ''Candid Camera'' is a popular and long-running American hidden camera reality television series. Versions of the show appeared on television from 1948 until 2014. Originally created and produced by Allen Funt, it often featured practical jokes ...

'' in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, putting unsuspecting people in embarrassing positions. These included a talking postbox, with the voice of a man claiming to be trapped inside, who asks a passerby for help. When the passerby returns with his friends, the 'talking' postbox is silent, and his friends accuse him of being drunk. The sequel, ''Funny People II'', was released in 1983, and features a young

Arnold Vosloo Arnold Vosloo (born 16 June 1962) is a South African-American actor. He is famous for roles such as Imhotep in ''The Mummy'' and ''The Mummy Returns'', Colonel Coetzee in ''Blood Diamond'', Pik van Cleef in ''Hard Target'', Dr. Peyton Westlake ...

who later found fame in Hollywood. Uys loved the outdoors and to get away from the hubbub of

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

where he lived. He had a modest

A-frame An A-frame is a basic structure designed to bear a load in a lightweight economical manner. The simplest form of an A-frame is two similarly sized beams, arranged in an angle of 45 degrees or less, attached at the top, like an uppercase lette ...

dwelling at Paradise Beach (262, Die Heide St), a quiet coastal resort 5 km west of the surfers' paradise

Jeffreys Bay Jeffreys Bay ( af, Jeffreysbaai, nicknamed J-bay) is a town of 27,107 inhabitants as of the 2011 census in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It Is the seat of the Kouga municipality and is famous amongst surfers as a surf capital due ...

(

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

). It was about 300 metres from the sea and for most of the years it had no electricity - only paraffin lamps and (later) gas lights. He at times would slip away to his favourite holiday retreat where he was seen collecting plant specimens, as a very keen amateur botanist who had his own

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...

. Uys would ride around on his bicycle to get to interesting spots in the veld. He also was a keen builder of model aeroplanes, on which he spent many hours during his Paradise Beach visits. In the late 1970s and early 1980s he had a luxurious house built on the beachfront, a couple of hundred metres away from his old A-frame. Uys died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

in 1996 at the age of 74.

Selected filmography

* ''

Daar Doer in Die Bosveld ''Daar doer in die bosveld'' ( ''Far Away in the Bushveld'') is the first film by the South African director Jamie Uys. It was originally released in 1951. The film is in the Afrikaans language, a language specific to Southern Africa. Plot Th ...

'' (1951) - Hans Botha * '' Vyftig-vyftig'' (1953) - Hans Botha * '' Daar Doer in die Stad'' (1954) - Hans Botha * '' Geld Soos Bossies'' (1955) * '' Paul Krüger'' (1956) - Younger brother * '' Die Bosvelder'' (1958) - Hans Botha * '' Rip van Wyk'' (1960) - Rip van Wyk * '' Hou die Blink Kant Bo'' (1960) - Himself (uncredited) * '' Hans en die Rooinek'' (1961) - Hans Botha * ''

The Hellions ''The Hellions'' is a 1961 British adventure film directed by Ken Annakin starring Richard Todd, Anne Aubrey, Lionel Jeffries, Ronald Fraser and Colin Blakely that was set and filmed in South Africa. Plot A lone law enforcement officer, Sam ...

'' (1961) - Ernie Dobbs * '' Lord Oom Piet'' (1962) - Piet Kromhout * '' Die Wonderwêreld van Kammie Kamfer'' (1965) - Witch Doctor (voice, uncredited) * ''

All the Way to Paris ''All the Way to Paris '' is a 1965 South African comedy film directed by Jamie Uys and starring Uys, Bob Courtney and Reinet Maasdorp. It was the first South African film to be filmed overseas. Premise International diplomats take part in a w ...

'' (1966) - Igor Strogoff * ''

Dingaka ''Dingaka'' is a 1965 film by South African director Jamie Uys with the soundtrack by Bertha Egnos, Eddie Domingo and Basil Gray. Synopsis ''Dingaka'' tells the story of a tribesman, Ntuku Makwena, who avenges the murder of his daughter accordi ...

'' (1965) * '' After You, Comrade'' (1967) * '' Die Professor en die Prikkelpop'' (1967) - Professor Hans Botha * '' Lost in the Desert'' (

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

version as "Dirkie": 1969;

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

version as "Dirkie Lost in the Desert" / "Lost in the Desert": 1969) - Anton DeVries * ''

'' (1974) * ''

Funny People ''Funny People'' is a 2009 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Judd Apatow, co-produced by Apatow Productions and Madison 23 Productions, and starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen and Leslie Mann with Eric Bana, Jonah Hill and Jas ...

'' - Himself / Various voices (uncredited) * ''

'' (1980) - The Reverend (uncredited) * '' Funny People II'' (1983) - Himself (uncredited) * ''

'' (1989) - Bob (voice, uncredited) (final film role)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Uys, Jamie 1921 births 1996 deaths South African film directors Afrikaner people South African people of Dutch descent People from Boksburg

Early life

Career

Selected filmography

References

Further reading

External links