SA entertainment icon dies
2007-10-25 17:54
Johannesburg - Theatre legend Patrick Mynhardt died of "natural causes" at the age of 75 in London on Thursday morning, his publicist has confirmed.
He was found dead by an old friend who had been putting him up in London during a two-week run of his autobiographical Boy from Bethulie at the Jermyn Street Theatre.
"We are completely and utterly gutted. Absolutely horrified," said theatre general manager and trustee Penny Horner.
"There was certainly nothing to indicate he was ill," she said.
Mynhardt had performed three of his one-man shows of two hours each since the first week of his run opened on October 22.
'Chatting and laughing'
After his final performance on Wednesday night, he had spent time on stage having photographs taken with young people and signing autographs, she said. "...They were chatting and laughing on stage."
"As we all went up the stairs together, he was bouncing off..." she said, adding that he had a lunch date with a friend on Friday.
"It was tour de force for him... he was delighted to return to the United Kingdom to perform on stage in the West End," said Horner.
"We are deeply, deeply upset," she said, describing Mynhardt as a "lovely, lovely man who was always telling jokes and stories".
She said the theatre would be "gentle" when it informed patrons who had booked for his show of what had happened.
They included a woman who was so enthused on seeing the show on Monday she decided to return with a large group, said Horner.
'Very sad end to a 30 year working relationship'
"People were talking about it," she said.
Said Colin Law, who produced the show: "This is a very sad end to a 30 year working relationship, it was a great privilege to work with Patrick, he died doing what he loved most - performing."
Mynhardt is survived by his son, Johann, grandchildren Liam Patrick and Euan Frederick and a brother and sister, said his publicist Bridget van Oerle.
She said funeral details had not yet been arranged. It was not known when Mynhardt's body would be repatriated.
Mynhardt was born in Bethulie, in the Free State, on June 12 1932 of an Afrikaans father and an Irish mother, according to his website, www.patrickmynhardt.com.
He attended Bethulie School and De La Salle College in East London, before discovering his talent on stage during a "disastrous" spell at Rhodes University in Grahamstown.
According to the website, Mynhardt joined the National Theatre Organisation in 1953, leaving for London the next year to train at the Central School of Drama.
Peter Sellers, Anthony Quinn, Judy Dench
He went on to work at repertory companies throughout England, and at the Richmond and Wimbledon theatres with West End plays at the Winter Garden and His Majesty's theatres, and appearances at the Edinburgh festival and in BBC plays and serials.
He worked with, among others, Tyrone Power, Sir Donald Wolfitt, Peter Sellers, Terry Thomas, Burt Lancaster, Anthony Quinn, Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole, Sir Michael Caine and Dame Judy Dench.
He returned to South Africa at the end of 1960, becoming well known for his one-man shows A Sip of Jerepigo, More Jerepigo, Just Jerepigo and Another Sip of Jerepigo.
The Boy From Bethulie opened in 1982, and was followed by The Best of Bosman and Bethulie in 1990, and which he performed in London, Brussels, New York, Washington, San Francisco and Israel.
He appeared on television as Pappa in the prison series Vyfster and as Hempies in Suburban Bliss.
- SAPA