Brett Goldin

{{Short description|South African actor and comedian (1977 - 2006)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}} {{Use South African English|date=July 2012}} {{Infobox person | name = Brett Goldin | image = | imagesize = | caption = | birthname = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1977|10|21|df=y}} | birth_place = | death_date = {{Death date and age|2006|04|16|1977|10|21|df=y}} | death_place = [[Cape Town]], South Africa | othername = | education = [[King David Schools, Johannesburg|King David School]]<br>[[Crawford College, Sandton]]<br>[[University of Cape Town]] | occupation = [[Actor]] | parents = Peter and Denise Goldin }} '''Brett Goldin''' (21 October 1977 – 16 April 2006) was a South African [[actor]] and part of the Crazy Monkey comedy troupe. Goldin was murdered in [[Cape Town]] in 2006 alongside friend Richard Bloom, a fashion designer who was a label manager for the Maze clothing company in Cape Town.<ref name=Maughan/><ref name=Obit>{{cite news|last=Hofmeyr|first=Kathy|title=Brett Goldin remembered|url=http://entertainment.iafrica.com/features/262227.htm|access-date=16 March 2013|newspaper=iafrica.com|date=25 April 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205014000/http://entertainment.iafrica.com/features/262227.htm|archive-date=5 February 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=VanMarsh/>

==Early life== Goldin was the son of Peter and Denise Goldin and had one sibling, his sister Samantha.<ref name=Maughan/><ref name=Obit/>

He was educated at the [[King David Schools, Johannesburg|King David School]] in Victory Park, [[Johannesburg]] and at [[Crawford College, Sandton]].<ref>{{cite web|title=2008 Good Schools Report|url=http://ndalomedia.preditor.co.za/assets/articles/attachments/00019_good_schools_report__2008.c.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120813021558/http://ndalomedia.preditor.co.za/assets/articles/attachments/00019_good_schools_report__2008.c.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 August 2012|access-date=17 March 2013}}</ref> He was a student of the [[University of Cape Town]] Drama Department from 1997 to 2000. He graduated with a [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree in [[English studies|English]] and [[Drama]], and subsequently completed a Performer's Diploma in Speech and Drama.<ref name=Obit/><ref>{{cite web|last=Hyland|first=Geoff|title=Brett Goldin - 1977-2006|url=http://www.uct.ac.za/print/mondaypaper/archives/?id=5680|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130421235855/http://www.uct.ac.za/print/mondaypaper/archives/?id=5680|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 April 2013|date=25 April 2006|publisher=UCT|access-date=17 March 2013}}</ref><ref name=Ansdell>{{cite web|last=Ansdell|first=Caroline|title=African Hamlet Opens at RSC after Actor's Murder|url=http://www.whatsonstage.com/news/theatre/london/E8821145973737/African+Hamlet+Opens+at+RSC+after+Actor's+Murder.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130412051901/http://www.whatsonstage.com/news/theatre/london/E8821145973737/African+Hamlet+Opens+at+RSC+after+Actor's+Murder.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 April 2013|date=25 April 2006|publisher=Whatsonstage|access-date=16 March 2013}}</ref>

==Career== Goldin began performing professionally at the age of eleven and had extensive experience in television, film and theatre.<ref name=Obit/><ref name=Ansdell/><ref>{{cite web|title=Brett Goldin remembered|author=Baxter Theatre Centre|date=24 April 2007|url=http://www.artlink.co.za/news_article.htm?contentID=3372|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130421231640/http://www.artlink.co.za/news_article.htm?contentID=3372|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 April 2013|publisher=Artslink.co.za|access-date=17 March 2013}} Includes Brett Goldin biography.</ref>

===Television=== Goldin, along with Trevor Clarence, Brendan Jack and Gavin Williams, performed stunts in the popular Crazy Monkey series of comedy inserts aired between music videos by [[MTV]].<ref name=VanMarsh/><ref name=Evans/><ref name=Benoniwood>{{cite web|title=Welcome to Benoniwood!|url=http://www.southafrica.info/news/arts/crazymonkey.htm|access-date=17 March 2013|newspaper=SouthAfrica.info|date=30 September 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304002650/http://www.southafrica.info/news/arts/crazymonkey.htm|archive-date=4 March 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

He starred in commercials for [[Pepsi]] and CNA.<ref name=VanMarsh/>

His television acting roles include Terry Schachter in the [[science fiction]] [[Dramatic programming|drama]] series ''[[Charlie Jade]]'',<ref>{{IMDb title|0408378|Charlie Jade}}</ref> Michael Krauss in the 2003 [[television film]] drama ''Citizen Verdict'',<ref>{{IMDb title|0342207|Citizen Verdict}}</ref> and Dylan in Season 3 of the South African drama series ''[[Yizo Yizo]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Yizo Yizo Season 3|url=http://www.tvsa.co.za/showinfo.asp?showid=5986|publisher=TVSA|access-date=19 March 2013}}</ref>

===Film=== Goldin's film roles include Carl in the 2002 horror film ''Slash'',<ref>{{IMDb title|0301848|Slash}}</ref> Lourens in the 2003 romantic drama ''[[Proteus (2003 film)|Proteus]]'',<ref>{{IMDb title|0379461|Proteus}}</ref> and B-Dog in Crazy Monkey's 2005 comedy feature film ''Straight Outta Benoni''.<ref name=Evans>{{cite news|last=Evans|first=Jenni|title=Police probe murder of Crazy Monkey actor|url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/police-probe-murder-of-crazy-monkey-actor-1.274377#.UUWU8BdTCz4|access-date=17 March 2013|newspaper=IOL|date=17 April 2006}}</ref><ref name=Benoniwood/><ref>{{IMDb title|0439518|Crazy Monkey Presents Straight Outta Benoni}}</ref>

===Theatre=== In 2004 Goldin wrote and acted in his first stage play, a one-man show titled ''Bad Apple'', which examined what would happen if a [[Columbine shootings|Columbine]]-style killing spree were to occur at a wealthy public school in Johannesburg. The production opened in August 2004 at the Intimate Theatre at the University of Cape Town, directed by [[Matthew Wild]]. The production received excellent reviews from the local press.<ref name=Ansdell/><ref>{{cite web|title=Research 2004|url=http://www.research2004.uct.ac.za/generic.php?m=/humanities/depts/drama/lt/output.php|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130422000347/http://www.research2004.uct.ac.za/generic.php?m=/humanities/depts/drama/lt/output.php|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 April 2013|publisher=UCT|quote=Bad Apple by Brett Goldin. Aug 09 - Aug 21 2004. Directed by Matthew Wilde, The Intimate, UCT.|access-date=17 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Bad Apple|url=http://www.matthewwild.co.za/Matthew_Wild_-_Theatre_Director/Bad_Apple.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130422013550/http://www.matthewwild.co.za/Matthew_Wild_-_Theatre_Director/Bad_Apple.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 April 2013|publisher=Matthew Wild|access-date=16 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Botha|first=Danie|title='n Verdiende staande ovasie|url=http://152.111.1.87/argief/berigte/dieburger/2004/08/17/DB/6LDN/03.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130410010529/http://152.111.1.87/argief/berigte/dieburger/2004/08/17/DB/6LDN/03.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 April 2013|language=Afrikaans|access-date=16 March 2013|newspaper=Die Burger|date=17 August 2004}}</ref>

At the time of his death, Goldin was playing the role of [[Rosencrantz and Guildenstern|Guildenstern]] in ''[[Hamlet]]'' at the [[Baxter Theatre Centre|Baxter Theatre]] and was set to go to the United Kingdom as part of the [[South Africa]]n production to be performed in [[Stratford-upon-Avon]].<ref name=Maughan>{{cite news|last1=Maughan|first1=Karyn|last2=Dolley|first2=Caryn|title=Double murder leaves arts community in tears|url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/double-murder-leaves-arts-community-in-tears-1.274404#.UUSOyxdTCz4|access-date=16 March 2013|newspaper=IOL|date=18 April 2006}}</ref><ref name=VanMarsh>{{cite news|last=Van Marsh|first=Alphonso|title='Leave' is no answer to violence|url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/07/02/safrica.crime/index.html|access-date=16 March 2013|publisher=CNN|date=3 July 2006}}</ref><ref name=Ansdell/><ref>{{cite news|last=Dolley|first=Caryn|title=Bodies of slain actor and designer flown home|url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/bodies-of-slain-actor-and-designer-flown-home-1.274571#.UUWm5BdTCz4|access-date=17 March 2013|newspaper=IOL|date=19 April 2006}}</ref>

==Murder== Goldin was murdered alongside a friend, Richard Bloom, in the early hours of Sunday 16 April 2006. They were killed with two shots each to the back of the head in [[Mowbray, Cape Town]], after they had left a party in [[Camps Bay]]. They had been [[carjacking|hijacked]] and shot execution-style.<ref name=Executions/>

Police and family members were alerted that the men were missing after police patrolling Camps Bay in the early hours of Sunday morning stopped a car being driven recklessly and suspiciously and found Goldin's credit card in the possession of men in the vehicle. The men were questioned by the police and eventually pointed out the location of the bodies of the deceased.<ref name=Maughan/><ref name=Evans/>

Reportedly found naked except for their socks in the [[veld]] next to the [[M5 road (Cape Town)|M5 freeway]] early on Monday 17 April 2006, some media coverage of the murders was deemed "particularly disturbing and highly insensitive".<ref name=Maughan/><ref name=Evans/><ref name=vanderFort>{{cite news|last=van der Fort|first=Fouzia|title=Counselling for gays rocked by killings|url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/counselling-for-gays-rocked-by-killings-1.274908#.UUTl8hdTCz5|access-date=16 March 2013|newspaper=IOL|date=21 April 2006}}</ref> Both men killed were gay,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Slier|first1=Lionel|title=Double murder stuns South African Jewish community|url=https://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/Double-murder-stuns-South-African-Jewish-community|access-date=22 June 2014|work=The Jerusalem Post|date=1 May 2006|quote=The fact that the victims were gay has led many to speculate that they were victims of homophobia.}}</ref> and members of the local gay community were traumatised by their violent deaths.<ref name=vanderFort/>

Eleven suspects were initially arrested for the murders. In May 2007, 25-year-old Shavaan Marlie and 23-year-old Clinton Davids pleaded guilty to the murders of Goldin and Bloom and several other related charges. Marlie and Davids received an effective 28-year prison sentence each in terms of a plea bargain agreement.<ref name=Executions>{{cite news|title=Goldin, Bloom: Plea spells out executions|url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/goldin-bloom-plea-spells-out-executions-1.353939#.UURqZhdTCz4|access-date=16 March 2013|newspaper=IOL|date=21 May 2007}}</ref> Four other men had been sentenced for related charges the previous year in terms of plea bargain agreements requiring them to testify against Marlie and Davids.<ref>{{cite news|last=Nel|first=Carryn-Ann|title=Goldin, Bloom's last hours ...|url=http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Goldin-Blooms-last-hours-20060529|access-date=16 March 2013|newspaper=Die Burger|date=29 May 2006}}</ref>

===Television documentaries=== In 2007 [[Antony Sher]] presented a [[Channel 4]] [[Crime film|crime]] documentary directed by [[Jon Blair]] about the murders, titled ''Murder Most Foul''.<ref>{{IMDb title|1548003|South Africa: Murder Most Foul}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/murder-most-foul/episode-guide/series-1/episode-1|title=Murder Most Foul|publisher=Channel4.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Dolley|first=Caryn|title=Documentary changed Cape a bit for me|url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/documentary-changed-cape-a-bit-for-me-1.363697#.UUW7VhdTCz4|access-date=17 March 2013|newspaper=IOL|date=27 July 2007}}</ref>

In July 2012, the murders were covered in the first episode of the [[M-Net]] ''Crimes Uncovered'' crime [[docudrama|docu-drama]] television series titled ''When Two Worlds Collide: The Brett Goldin and Richard Bloom Story''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Crimes Uncovered on M-Net |url=http://mnet.dstv.com/2012/06/29/crimes-uncovered-on-m-net/ |date=29 June 2012 |publisher=M-Net |access-date=17 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120708050940/http://mnet.dstv.com/2012/06/29/crimes-uncovered-on-m-net/ |archive-date=8 July 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Crimes Uncovered|url=http://www.tvsa.co.za/mastershowinfo.asp?mastershowid=2841|publisher=TVSA|access-date=17 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Ndlovu|first=Andile|title=Show to air as killers bid for parole|url=http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2012/07/02/show-to-air-as-killers-bid-for-parole|access-date=17 March 2013|newspaper=TIMES Live|date=2 July 2012}}</ref>

===Brett Goldin Bursary Fund=== Shortly after Goldin's murder, the [[Baxter Theatre Centre]] in Cape Town, the [[Royal Shakespeare Company]] and the Actors Centre in Johannesburg founded the Brett Goldin Bursary Fund in his memory.<ref>{{cite news|title=First Brett Goldin Bursary Fund Awarded|url=http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/news/goldinaward.htm|access-date=18 March 2013|newspaper=The British Theatre Guide|date=25 April 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112161542/http://britishtheatreguide.info/news/goldinaward.htm|archive-date=12 November 2012}}</ref>

==Filmography== ===Film=== * ''Slash'' (2002), Carl * ''[[Proteus (2003 film)|Proteus]]'' (2003), Lourens * ''Adrenaline'' (2003), Eddy * ''Blast'' (2004), Brett * ''Straight Outta Benoni'' (2005), Brett "B-Dog" * ''[[Racing Stripes]]'' (2005), Ticket Vendor

===Television=== * ''[[Cavegirl]]'': ''Pigball'' (2002), Pigball Star Player * ''Citizen Verdict'' (2003), Michael Krauss * ''{{ill|The Rose Gardener|de|Die Rosenzüchterin (Film)}}'' (2004), Hotel Manager * ''Yizo Yizo'' (2004), Dylan * ''Fela's TV'' (2004) * ''[[Charlie Jade]]'': ''Identity'' (2005), Terry Schachter * ''[[Charlie Jade]]'': ''Flesh'' (2005), Scrawny Bouncer

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb name|1173720|Brett Goldin}} * [http://www.tvsa.co.za/actorprofile.asp?actorid=5855 TVSA Actor Profile: Brett Goldin] * [http://www.whoswho.co.za/brett-goldin-5457|publisher=whoswho.co.za Who's Who SA: Brett Goldin] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20130208041651/http://www.baxter.co.za/brett.htm Baxter Theatre Centre - Brett Goldin Bursary Fund]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldin, Brett}} [[Category:1977 births]] [[Category:2006 deaths]] [[Category:2006 in South Africa]] [[Category:2006 murders in South Africa]] [[Category:20th-century South African LGBTQ people]] [[Category:21st-century South African LGBTQ people]] [[Category:Burials at Westpark Cemetery]] [[Category:Deaths by firearm in South Africa]] [[Category:Gay Jews]] [[Category:Jewish male actors]] [[Category:Murdered Jews]] [[Category:People murdered in South Africa]] [[Category:South African gay actors]] [[Category:South African Jews]] [[Category:South African male film actors]] [[Category:South African male stage actors]] [[Category:South African male television actors]] [[Category:South African murder victims]] [[Category:University of Cape Town alumni]] [[Category:White South African people]]