A film that left an impression on me is without a doubt Ship of Fools — a 1965 movie directed by Stanley Kramer. It has stayed with me ever since I watched it as a 16-year-old boy at the Metro cinema in downtown Johannesburg. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. It’s a fantastic film that I viewed again just the other day.
The genres of music I listen to are numerous. I don’t have one only preferred musician as there is simply too much that I enjoy: from Bob Dylan to classical — including many of the English composers.
Reading two books at a time is a habit of mine and the works I am reading at the moment are Thames: Sacred River by Peter Ackroyd and Stone’s Fall by Iain Pears.
The Thames interests me in particular as I know the river rather well because of my various visits there, as well as the five years when I lived there in the 1970s. I was a student at Design College in London and went on to drama school.
When I returned to South Africa I auditioned for a show at the Market Theatre. Landing that role was a very important and significant moment for me. It was from there that my career began to build on itself.
A book that has made a lasting impression on me and which I regularly dip into is United States, a collection of essays by Gore Vidal. I guess I always come back to it because I like his writing very much and find it enormously witty.
The people I admire change all the time — I am not going to say Nelson Mandela, even though it is true. When I was a young boy at St Martin’s School, Archbishop Trevor Huddleston was associated with the Order. He was an Anglican monk who led the British campaign to end apartheid in South Africa and I suppose he is someone I have always looked up to. This was obviously instilled in us by our school, but it is also an independent admiration that I still hold for him.
I enjoy Italian food and would not describe myself as one of those mad sort of sushi people. I always find I come back to a really good old-fashioned steakhouse. When I want to spoil myself I go for a steak with all the trimmings. Turn ‘n Tender in Parktown North is the sort of restaurant I would visit to treat myself.
I don’t tend to go out much and wouldn’t say I have a particular hang-out. A special spot for me is a place called Quiet Mountain Country House in the Magaliesberg. It is a powerful place, as the Magliesberg is the second-oldest mountain range in existence, and there is a wonderful energy there.
Robert Whitehead is an actor best known for his role as Barker Haines in the local soapie Isidingo. He spoke to Lisa Steyn