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Sandra Prinsloo (born 15 September 1947), also known as Sandra Prinzlow, is a South African actress best known internationally for her role as Kate Thompson in the 1980 film The Gods Must Be Crazy. Prinsloo has also appeared in numerous South African television, film, and Theatre productions.
"I was a ballet dancer from a very early age and I remember that I occasionally ushered at the Breytenbach Theatre in Pretoria when I was in high school. That’s the first time I came into contact with professional stage acting, but I never thought I’d be an actress . . . . I think I was far too shy in those days to ever think I could be an actress. So it wasn’t like I had this great big burning passion to become an actress, not at all. I preferred an academic life, in a way. When I went to university, I thought that was going to be what I was going to do".
Prinsloo matriculated from the Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool and then completed her B.A. honours in drama at the University of Pretoria. Soon after, she became a member of the Performing Arts Council Transvaal acting company. "One night we were performing and it was as if something absolutely magical happened. It was as if a golden net was cast down. Everything was magical that evening and everybody felt it in the cast ... It was something enchanting that happens in the exchange of the energy between the audience and the actors".
Prinsloo has said that after that night, she realised that acting was her calling.
Prinsloo has acted in a number of South African television series and movies throughout her career, including Erfsondes (2012); Hartland (2011); Known Gods (2005); Saints, Sinners, and Settlers (1999); and Konings (1991) among others.
In 1985, Prinsloo and fellow actor John Kani caused a South African audience walk-out when performing the play Miss Julie by August Strindberg."Walkout over Black-White Love Scene". Courier-Mail (Australia). 8 March 1985. Retrieved 2 September 2014 from Lexis-Nexis database. In the title role, Prinsloo played a white woman seducing a black man. The play marked the first on-stage occurrence of a black man kissing a white woman under the Apartheid regime.[7] O'Brien, Kerry. "The 7:30 Report: Kani explores a post-apartheid world on stage." Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 11 May 2005. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
The play's producer, Bobby Heaney, speculated that the walk-out was "part of a well planned campaign by conservative whites". Both Kani and Prinsloo had to be escorted into the parking lot after each performance of Miss Julie, as there was fear that the actors would be attacked by "enraged right-wingers".Smith, Janet. " Kani's King Lear moment". The Star (Johannesburg). 13 February 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2015. Prinsloo reportedly received obscene hate mail and both received death threats.
When interviewed in 2014 for the 21 Icons Project, a series of short films about South Africans "who have shaped the world around them", "About the Project". 21 Icons. Retrieved 6 June 2015. Prinsloo commented that "I thought the would cause a stir, but I didn't think it would cause a minor revolution. People were very small-minded and I suppose you live in a bit of a fool's paradise when you’re an actor".
The actors later performed the play at the Edinburgh Festival.[10] Andreae, Christopher. "Black/white version of 'Miss Julie' puts a spin on Strindberg's 1888 drama." Christian Science Monitor, 5 September 1985. Retrieved 1 September 2014. In 1986, Heaney directed a TV movie of the play for Swedish and Finnish television, which starred both Prinsloo and Kani.
Prinsloo returned to the Edinburgh Festival in 2012 with The Sewing Machine, an English-language translation of the Afrikaans-language play, Die Naaimasjien. In the 2000s, Prinsloo appeared on the South African stage in productions of Oskar en die Pienk Tannie; Janneman; Nag, Ma (Night Mother); and Liefde, Anna.
In October 2015, Prinsloo portrayed South African journalist, Jani Allan in Jani at the Aardklop festival.
In 2014, Prinsloo was the recipient of a national order by the South African government, the Order of Ikhamanga in silver, for those whose outstanding work has benefited South Africa.[12] "Zuma presents National Orders in Pretoria." The Citizen, 28 April 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2014. National orders are bestowed on South Africa's Freedom Day. The orders celebrate human achievement in various fields, honouring men and women who have left definitive footprints in both the struggle for liberation and in building a better South Africa. Diphoko, Montlenyane. "Zuma bestows 53 luminaries with National Orders." SABC News, 27 April 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
In 2018, Prinsloo was the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Naledi Theatre Awards. "Complete list of winners in 2018 Naledi Theatre Awards" . Artsvark, 19 June 2018. The awards are offered annually by the Naledi Theatre Awards Committee.
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