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South African Culture: South Africa's Top Exports

South African Stars Overseas

A number of stars have come out of South Africa to shine on the big screen, stage and the football pitch…
Here is our top five:

Benni McCarthy

The 31-year-old Blackburn Rovers striker was born in a rough area of Cape Town in 1977. He started off his professional career at South African first division side Seven Stars in 1995, before moving to Ajax three years later. Following 20 goals in 35 appearances in a single season for the Dutch giants, which saw them crowed league champions. He then moved to Spanish side Celta Vigo for a reported six million Euros (the most expensive transfer for a South African player at the time.)

He failed to find his form in Spain and was sent on loan to FC Porto for the 2001/2002 season, where he scored 12 goals in just 11 games. He moved permanently to the club in 2003, helping them gain UEFA Cup qualification. McCarthy stayed for three more years before heading to England and Blackburn Rovers in 2006, for £2.5 million.

April 2008 saw McCarthy pen a new deal to stay at Ewood Park until 2011.

To date, the front man has 76 caps for South Africa, and has scored 184 goals for clubs and country.

Lucas Radebe

In 2004 the 40-year-old retired footballer was voted in the top 100 Great South Africans.

Born in Soweto near Johannesburg in 1969, he played 200 games in defence for Leeds United in 11 years, though never scored once for the club.

He started his professional career at the Kaizer Chiefs, but was shot in the street one day, and convinced it was because of football, he decided to move to England and Leeds in 1994 for a fee of £250,000.

Nicknamed the 'Chief' in tribute to his former club and because he ruled Leeds' backline. Radebe was loved by the fans and managers alike and was appointed club captain in 1998. A knee injury kept him out for almost two years in 2000, and he retired from the game in 2005 with a star studded testimonial at Elland Road, featuring legends such as Vinnie Jones, Gary McAllister, and Bruce Grobbelaar.

In 2008, a local Leeds brewery asked for suggestions on a new beer name and the most popular suggestion was 'Radebeer', showing the Leeds fans' long standing admiration of Lucas.

It's also said the band, the Kaiser Chiefs, who are all massive Leeds fans, named themselves after Lucas' old club because they idolised him as children.

Charlize Theron

Grew up on a farm in Benoni near Johannesburg. The Hollywood actress is famous for her role as serial killer Aileen Wuornos in the film Monster, for which she became the first African to win an Oscar for Best Actress in 2004.

The 33-year-old rose to fame in the late 1990s after appearing in films like Devil's Advocate, Mighty Joe Young and The Cider House Rules. She was first discovered whilst yelling at a bank worker in Hollywood.

She got her own star on the walk of fame in 2005, and was named Esquire magazine's Sexiest Woman Alive in 2007.

She's done big advertising campaigns for John Galliano and Christian Dior, and in late 2008 she was asked to be a UN messenger of peace by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

The actress, who speaks both Afrikaans and English, owns a Harley Davidson motorbike and has a flower tattoo on her right foot.

Arnold Vosloo

Born June 1962 in Pretoria, the 46-year-old actor is known for playing the title role in the 1999 film The Mummy , and its 2001 sequel, The Mummy Returns.

More recently he played a South African mercenary named Colonel Coetzee in the film Blood Diamond , alongside Leonardo DiCaprio.

He started acting on stage in the theatre in his home town, but then moved to the US in the early 90's where he starred in plays alongside the likes of Al Pacino. He got his first film break in 1992, in 1492 - Conquest Of Paradise.

More recently, Vosloo has been involved in video games. His likeness, as well as his voice, was chosen for main hero - Saul Myers - in the video game Boiling Point: Road To Hell.

For his next project - Vosloo will portray the Cobra mercenary and master of disguise, Zartan, in the summer 2009 release of G.I Joe: The Rise of Cobra.

Manfred Sepse Lubowitz, AKA Manfred Mann

Born in October 1940 in Johannesburg, the Manfred Mann musician started off playing jazz in clubs across his home city.

Unhappy with the political situation in South Africa, he re-located to the UK in 1961, where he met drummer and keyboard player Mike Hugg at Butlins in Clacton-on-Sea, and went on to set up a band called the Mann Hugg Blues Brothers. When they signed a record deal with EMI in 1963, they changed their name to Manfred Mann and had a succession of hits with records like 'Do Wah Diddy Diddy' and 'Sha La La'.

Manfred Mann the group split in 1969, but undeterred, Mann formed a new outfit in 1971, Manfred Mann's Earth Band, which still record and perform to this day. They are best-known for their No1 hit recording of 'Blinded by the Light'.

A-Z List of Famous South Africans

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