
Acting
Ian Roberts is a South African actor, playwright and singer best known to television viewers for his roles in the drama series Arende and Snitch, and as the character Boet in a series of long-running advertisements for Castrol motor oil. Roberts was born in Fort Beaufort in the Eastern Cape and raised on a citrus farm near the town. He attended St. Andrew's Preparatory School and St. Andrew's College in Grahamstown. After completing high school he performed his compulsory national service in the South African Army, which he completed in 1971. After a variety of different jobs and a course in photography at the Port Elizabeth Technical College from 1973 to 1975, Roberts enrolled at Rhodes University in 1976 for a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Speech, Drama and Social Anthropology. Ian Roberts has built up an extensive acting career in theatre, television and film. Roberts was married to South African actress Michele Botes, but the couple divorced in 1999. They have two children.

The Play on One
1988

The Wild
2011

Reyka
2021

Mia and the White Lion
2018

King Solomon's Mines
2004

Arende
1989

Erfsondes
2007

The Power of One
1992

I Dreamed of Africa
2000

Onder Draai Die Duiwel Rond
1997

Tremors 5: Bloodlines
2015

Musiekpaniek
2020

Cape Town
2016

Appels en Tee
2025

Tarzan and the Lost City
1998

Tsotsi
2005

Cry, the Beloved Country
1995

Daisy de Melker
1993

Sweepers
1998

Jane and the Lost City
1987

Red Dust
2004

The Fourth Reich
1990

3 Needles
2005

Arsenaal
2002

Cyborg Cop III
1995

A Kind of Madness
2025

Paljas
1998

Mandela and de Klerk
1997

Musiek Vir Die Agtergrond
2013

In a Time of Violence: The Line
1994

Stuur Groete Aan Mannetjies Roux
2013

Dancing in the Forest
1988

Kalahari Harry
1994

Inside
1996

Van der Merwe
2017

Askari
2001