Bio
Graham Hopkins was born in Pietermaritzburg and educated at Hilton College and the University of Natal.
After a short spell as an English and Mathematics teacher, he joined PACT drama company in 1983 and has been acting professionally ever since.
Among a host of successful film, television, radio and theatre performances, memorable roles include Cecil John Rhodes in the SABC series Barney Barnato, for which he won a Star Tonight Best TV actor award; Bruce in the South African film The Native Who Caused All The Trouble, for which he won a Vita Award; Henry Higgins in the 1990 State Theatre production of My Fair Lady, for which he won a Dalro Award for Best performance in a musical; Urgentino in the Market Theatre production of Howard Barker's Scenes from an Execution, for which he won a Dalro Award; Parchester in the 1995 UK tour with the English production of Me and My Girl; and Richard Hopcroft in Paul Slabolepszy’s cricket play, Life’s a Pitch.
More recent screen credits include Paul Slabolepszy’s Heel Against the Head and Gavin Hood’s A Reasonable Man, as well as cameo roles in Stander, Gums and Noses and Hard Copy.
Recent stage performances include leading roles in the highly acclaimed Pieter Toerien productions of Honor, Address Unknown and Ying Tong, in which he exercised his talent for vocal mimicry by playing Peter Sellers.
Graham has won many awards across all acting disciplines, from comedy and musicals to serious drama; from film and television to radio and stage performances. In 2006, he was nominated for the Naledi awards in 3 categories.
In addition to a busy professional life as a multi-award winning actor, Graham is a scriptwriter and partner in a very successful event and communications company called 360 Degrees. Check out their website at 360degrees.co.za.
Graham and his wife, Bev Elgie, have a son called Thomas.
Graham at the announcement of
The Lab Season 2 in Cape Town (15 November, 2006)