Pierre de Wet

{{Short description|South African actor}} {{Infobox person | name = Pierre de Wet | image = Die Goeie ou tyd 1944.jpg | caption = Gert van den Bergh, Paula Styger, Pierre de Wet and Anna Neethling-Pohl in a scene from Sita's ''Die Goeie ou tyd'' (1944). | birth_name = Pierre Stephanus de Wet<ref name=Sterf /> | birth_date = 22 August 1909<ref name=Sterf>{{cite news|title=Pierre de Wet Sterf op 80. Hart Eis Dié Rolprent-Pionier|url=http://152.111.1.88/argief/berigte/beeld/1990/06/25/3/9.html|accessdate=16 January 2013|newspaper=Beeld|date=25 June 1990}}</ref> | birth_place = Pretoria | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1990|6|24|1909|8|22}}<ref name=Sterf /> | death_place = Johannesburg | death_cause = | other_names = | occupation = Director, actor, producer, screenwriter | boards = | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = | signature = | awards = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Pierre Stephanus de Wet''' (1909–1990)<ref name=Sterf /><ref>{{cite web | title=Pierre de Wet (1909-1990) | date=November 2023 | url=https://afrikanergeskiedenis.co.za/pierre-de-wet-1909-1990/ }}</ref> was a film director, producer and writer.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pierre Stephanus de Wet |url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/pierre-stephanus-de-wet-sa-actor-producer-and-pioneer-afrikaans-sound-films-born-pretori |publisher=South African History Online |access-date=16 January 2013 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181003022624/http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/pierre-stephanus-de-wet-sa-actor-producer-and-pioneer-afrikaans-sound-films-born-pretori |archive-date=3 October 2018 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all}}</ref> He is considered the father of the Afrikaans film industry. He established the Afrikaans film industry almost single-handedly with meager means and produced a total of 21 Afrikaans films during his lifetime.<ref name=Pionier>{{cite news|title=Pierre de Wet Was 'n Ware Pionier|url=http://152.111.1.88/argief/berigte/beeld/1990/06/29/3/9.html|accessdate=16 January 2013|newspaper=Beeld|date=29 June 1990}}</ref> De Wet was also the creator of ''Kom Saam Vanaand'' (1949), the first ever South African and Afrikaans musical.<ref>{{cite web |title=A History of the South African Film Industry: Timeline, 1895–2003 |url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/history-south-african-film-industry-timeline-1895-2003 |publisher=South African History Online |access-date=16 January 2013 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331104046/https://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/history-south-african-film-industry-timeline-1895-2003 |archive-date=31 March 2019 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

He died of a heart attack in a Johannesburg hospital in 1990 at the age of 80.

== Filmography == === As an actor === * Pikkie se Erfenis, 1946 * Die kaskenades van Dr. Kwak, 1948 as Dr. Hendrikus Kwak * Moedertjie, 1931 (first full-length film with Afrikaans dialogue)

=== As an author === * Dis Lekker om te Lewe, 1957 * ’n Plan is ’n Boerdery, 1954 * Hier’s ons weer, 1950 * Die kaskenades van Dr. Kwak, 1948 * Simon Beyers, 1947

=== As an director === * En die Vonke Spat, 1961 * Oupa en die plaasnooientjie, 1960 * Nooi van my hart, 1959 * Piet se tante, 1959 * Fratse in die vloot, 1958 * Dis Lekker om te Lewe, 1957 * Matieland, 1955 * Vadertjie Langbeen, 1955 * ’n Plan is ’n Boerdery, 1954 * Altyd in my drome, 1952 * Alles sal regkom, 1951 * Kom saam, vanaand, 1949 (eerste Suid-Afrikaanse en Afrikaanse musiekblyspel) * Die kaskenades van Dr. Kwak, 1948 * Simon Beyers, 1947 * Geboortegrond, 1946 * Pikkie se Erfenis, 1946

== Awards == * For his performance in Moedertjie he received the first Afrikaans film award - a medal of honour from the then Academy for Language, Letters and Arts.<ref name=Pionier />

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:de Wet, Pierre}} Category:1909 births Category:1990 deaths Category:South African actors Category:South African film directors