Frank Opperman

Frank Opperman (born 8 June 1960, Johannesburg, South Africa) is a South African actor and musician. After attending numerous schools across South Africa in Worcester, Benoni, Hermanus and Middelburg, he matriculated from Silverton High School in Pretoria in 1978.

An interest in acting

He started studying law in 1979 at the University of Pretoria^[1] but soon lost interest and joined the South African Defence Force in 1980, where he played in an army marching band. Upon leaving the service, he dated a female drama student and became interested in acting as a career option. He subsequently obtained a three-year national diploma in acting at the Pretoria Technicon and received the Pretoria Trust Award for best student. While studying he married his first wife; however, the marriage lasted only 18 months.

The following two years he worked for PACT (Performing Arts Council Transvaal) and acted in productions such as Spring awakening and Caspar in my tuin. He also acted alongside fellow South African actor Arnold Vosloo in a full-length feature film called Boetie gaan border toe, but gained popularity in an Afrikaans sitcom called Orkney Snork Nie, created by Willie Esterhuisen, playing a character named Ouboet van Tonder. Later he starred in a television drama series The Big Time as Chris Karedes, a Cypriot emigrant. The series received numerous SABC Artes awards.

Family

In 1988 he married South African actress Susan Coetzer, but in 1992 they divorced; they have one son.

Music and more

In 1993 he moved to America for a few years but later returned to South Africa to become co-owner of a Jazz club called Bassline in Johannesburg. He also released a rock album called Serial Boyfriend.

In the following years he participated in various projects, amongst others Gauteng-Aleng, a sitcom where he worked once again alongside Willie Esterhuisen. He also appeared in Dryfsand, an Afrikaans television drama written by P.G. du Plessis. After twelve years he finally returned to the theatre and presently stars in Die Uwe Pottie Potgieter, a one-man show written for him by Dana Snyman.

External links

• Official website
• www.tvsa.co.za

References