Biography
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When Louise Smit thinks of her childhood in Paarl, the
tedious practising of scales on the piano springs to her mind. Her father, an ardent pianist, wanted to make
virtuosi of all his children. But Louise would rather have liked to dance on top of the piano. She felt
restricted by the eight octaves.
Bedtime was story time. Her mother, a teacher and animated
storyteller, kept the six children spellbound with her amazing stories.
After happy schooldays at La Rochelle Girls' High, she
studied Drama at the University of Stellenbosch. She then did charitable work in Malawi, Central Africa, for
four years. She performed indigenous folktales with the children in the rural areas. This led to weekly
children's radio programmes in the Chicewa - language.
Returning to South Africa, she joined the Civic Theatre in
Johannesburg as puppeteer before accepting the position as programme director at the SABC - TV division. Her
first programmes, Haas Das se Nuuskas (a rabbit newsreader wearing flashy ties) and Wielie Walie, were national
hits. She also created and directed programmes in isiZulu, isiXhosa, Sotho, Pedi, SetTswana and
English.
In 1980 she launched her own television studio, Kinnor
Studios in Johannesburg where her programmes were produced under Louise Smit Productions. It was sold to Red
Pepper Productions twenty years later after retiring from television.
She loves cooking while Mozart's music loudly fills the
house. Reading is a passion. She is married, currently lives in Germany and has a daughter. She now writes full
time.
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