Tobie Cronjé followed his passion
ROODEPOORT – Fans of Tobie Cronjé's work can look forward to his new show, 'Ballade vir 'n Banggat'.
ROODEPOORT – You may recognise him from Kootjie Emmer (1977), or Promised Land (2002) – Auckland Park resident Tobie Cronjé has been a bankable actor from his university days.
Born in 1948, Cronjé started acting in 1972 while honing his skills at the University of Pretoria Drama Department.
“It was a sudden decision because I come from a musical family and went to university to study music as I come from a musical family,” he says.
Just as he thought he had found his love in music, Cronjé was in for a surprise.
“A friend took me to see a play for the first time and I feel in love,” admits Cronjé.
When time to fill in for a course came, Cronjé enrolled to study drama and in 1975 he landed his first on stage deal.
“For my first role on stage I did not have a character, I was just asked to play the piano and I loved it because I understood that you have to start somewhere in any career,” Cronjé says sharing words of wisdom.
His next role was in a 1975 TV series called Willem where he played the main character.
“I enjoyed working on that series and even today some of the older folks call me Willem,” he says with a chuckle.
Now a proclaimed actor, comedian and director, this charming Afrikaner has been in hundreds of productions and thousands of shows, not mentioning a series of tiny moments that would take an entire newspaper to list, Cronjé has a new production lined up at the Roodepoort Theatre on 27 July. It will be an hour-long show called Ballade van’n Banggat.
“This will be a sweet, but moving show. It is about someone who grows up scared but learns to cope with life,” he says.
Although his life’s work may be adored by many, he says being an actor at his age has its downside.
“I am getting older and so I tend to forget lines, which means I have to work twice as hard, eat well and exercise so that I have energy to work,” he says.
“Follow your passion; we spend so much time at work and it would be ridiculous to be doing something you don’t like…you can start from the bottom and keep your eyes open all the time and learn from other people,” Cronjé concluded with words of wisdom.
