The Commandant

Robin B. Smith
Born February 28, 1955
Cape Town, South Africa
Resides South Africa
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) The Commandant
Debut 1997
Retired 1997

Robin B. Smith (born February 28, 1955) is a South African former wrestling manager and actor. He is appeared in the 2009 film Invictus. He was known in the WWF as the Commandant, who managed the South African Truth Commission for a short time in 1997.

Born in South Africa, his film career started in 1987 in the film Scavengers. He appeared in many South African movies throughout the late 1980s to the 2000s.

Wrestling career

Smith became a manager in professional wrestling in early 1997. Bret Hart visited South Africa and met Smith. Hart recommended him for a role in the World Wrestling Federation, however he never fought as a wrestler. Smith made his wrestling debut in Tennessee in the US Wrestling Association (USWA). He wrestled under the name Commandant, and managed a group of wrestlers including "Interrogator", "Tank" and "Recon" as the "Truth and Reconciliation Commission".

This team won the USWA Tag Team Championship three times. In June 1997, the Truth Commission made their WWF debut. Smith made promos on WWF about the Truth Commission and attacking the United States for not having discipline. He was hated by the fans. "Sniper" replaced "Tank" on the commission. He was interviewed by Sunny, but scared her by yelling at her. During the summer of 1997 the group lost only to "Legion of Doom". In September, Smith was replaced by Don Callis, the "Jackyl"; the WWF wanted someone who could participate physically in the matches. Smith returned to South Africa, ending his wrestling career.

Acting

Robin Beauclerk Smith was born in Cape Town South Africa on 28 February 1955. Smith's first appearance onstage occurred by him, at age 15, being offered a school holiday job "holding a spear in a stage show" whilst waiting for the school bus to Rugby practice. This first professional debut in "Hadrian VII" resulted in Smith doing 2 more professional stage shows whilst still at school and fostered an interest in acting.

Smith went to the University of Cape Town (UCT) to study Drama from 1974 to early 1976, when he left University to work fulltime at the socio-political "Space Theater" as a Company Actor.

Smith appeared at "The Market Theater" in Johannesburg in 1979, taking over a role in "Cinncinnatti" a play examining the multi-racial underground of the Club Society in Apartheid South Africa. Smith stayed on in Johannesburg and went on to establish a reputation as a stage performer in Drama, Comedy, Period and Children's Theater as well as breaking into Television. Smiths first major TV role was in the Afrikaans Prison series "Vyfster", where alongside two of S.A.'s acting icons, Patrick Mynhard and Emgee Pretorius, Smith played the Prison Enforcer "Gabba", this trio controlled every aspect of the "underground inside" and "Vyfster" went on to a second series and culminated in a Feature Film, "Die Slot".

Smith also took performing in Radio Plays, which prompted him to do Commercial Voice Work for advertising, documentary and film narration as well as animation and went on to become one of the "Top Ten" commercial voices in S.A. winning numerous voice awards.

Smith won an "M-Net All Africa Film Award" for Best Supporting Actor in 1994 for his role as Angel in Never say Die and has twice been nominated for Theater Awards, a Vita Award in 1993 for "Hellhound" (an adaptation of Shakespeare's Richard III) and a Fleur du Cap Award for "While Stocks Last" a political Satire.

Smith also appeared in "The Fall" (2006) a film about Los Angeles based in the 1920s. In 2009 he played Johan De Villers in Clint Eastwoods film "Invictus", about the South African rugby football team fighting to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

Smith returned home to Cape Town in 2007 and now lives in, and works from, the West Coast village of Kommetjie.

In 2007 he workshopped a one man show "The Secret Letters of Jan van Riebeek", along with the late satirist Robert Kirby, who also directed, based on Kirby's book of the same name. Smith premiered the show at the Grahamstown Theater Festival in 2007 and toured to the State Theater Pretoria and Barnyard Theater Franschoek the same year.

Smith returned to the stage in July 2014 at The Grahamstown National Festival of the Arts, performing as Old Man Cabot in Fred Abrahamse and Marcel Meyer's South African adaptation of Eugene O'Neills "Desire Under the Elms". His performance received widespread critical acclaim.

Filmography

References