
Acting
Ron Smerczak
Born — Died
1949-07-03 — 2019-05-12
Place of birth
UK
Known for
Acting
Credits
48 titles
Known for
6.6Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted. The individual episodes were between fifty and a hundred minutes in duration.
Play for Today
1970
7.2South Africa, 1823. The Zulu Empire, headed by King Shaka, a brilliant but ruthless military strategist, begin to encroach on the British colony of Cape Town. A volunteer cadre of explorers, mercenaries and professional soldiers are sent to Zululand to try to make contact with Shaka and assess the real threat of his army.
Shaka Zulu
1986
7.2A group of covert CIA operatives trailing a potential new energy source are double-crossed by corrupt agent Morgan, who causes a helicopter crash in remote South Africa. The sole survivor, suffering severe amnesia, is nursed to recovery by a kindly native tribe who call him "Whoami" after the question he keeps asking. With the help of a mysterious reporter Christine, Whoami pieces together his past and tracks the turncoat agent and his criminal cohorts.
Who Am I?
1998
4.9A laundry-folding machine has been possessed by a demon, causing it to develop homicidal tendencies.
The Mangler
1995
6.8The Devil's Whore is a four-part television drama serial produced by Company Pictures for Channel 4, broadcast from 19 November to 10 December 2008. As the English Civil War rages, when both politics and religion divide the nation, spirited aristocrat Angelica Fanshawe is drawn to the anti-monarchist cause. She tells the story as England dares to execute its king and search for an alternative means of government.
The Devil's Whore
2008
5.3The two American Ninjas, Joe Armstrong and Sean Davidson, team up to do battle against a terrorist and his band of Ninjas.
American Ninja 4: The Annihilation
1990
Film credits
2010s · 1 titles
2000s · 13 titles
5.7A look at the life of legendary American pilot Amelia Earhart, who disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 in an attempt to make a flight around the world.
Amelia
2009
6.3A new case for the cult detectives! Not by coincidence, a mysterious videotape falls into the hands of Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw and Bob Andrews during Jupiter's birthday party in Rocky Beach. On it is a recording of Jupiter's long dead parents. In their message they want to communicate to their son the key to an especially tricky riddle.
The Three Investigators in The Secret of Terror Castle
2009
5.3Timeless tale of Beauty and the Beast set in the period of the Vikings. Freya, a warrior and the beautiful daughter of a Viking king, is held prisoner on an island castle by a Beast whom has been cursed by his god Odin.
Beauty and the Beast
2005
4.9A gang of women wreak vengeance upon the society that failed them.
Hooded Angels
2002
8.0Peter and Shannon are at home alone. When they stumble across a truck full of stolen gold the adventure begins. Held captive by three incompetent bank robbers, they have to come up with a plan to escape.
Pets
2002
3.2After her favorite mare dies while giving birth on her grandfather's farm, Polly's spirits are lifted when she discovers that the foal is a magical baby unicorn. The secret spreads throughout the village, and troublemakers finagle to steal the unicorn for their own gains.
The Little Unicorn
2002
6.0Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation is a 2007 epic film on the Namibian independence struggle against South African occupation as seen through the life of Sam Nujoma, the leader of the South-West Africa People's Organisation and the first president of the Republic of Namibia.
Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation
2007
5.2The Queen's Messenger is called to convey vital dispatches to a highly secretive conference called to combat the activities of modern poachers who threaten the economies of many African states.
Witness to a Kill
2001
4.7A married couple are about to face a series of difficult problems. The two engage in an escalating series of infidelities and mind games that could very well lead to their mutual destruction.
Dead Easy
2004
The special unit "AT-13" is a top-secret, multinational anti-terrorist unit whose unconventional problem-solving methods are its trademark. It impresses not only with its team of professional counter-terrorism experts, but also with its outstanding technical capabilities, which are virtually limitless. With a clear mandate to combat global terrorism by any means necessary, Jack Darrow and his team are our last line of defense...
The Red Phone: Checkmate
2004
4.6No synopsis available yet.
The Red Phone: Manhunt
2001
3.8While on a hunt for elephant poachers in Namibia, a white female conservationist and a black lawyer fall for each other despite the condemnation by the local community.
Kin
2000
2.8"Everything happens for a reason" - on his 50th birthday, Lenny Vincent is fired from his job as a sports writer for a daily newspaper, his wife of 19 years leaves him for a much younger man and he and his best friend Dave are caught in a gang heist at a restaurant. He ends up being hi-jacked by the gang and dumped in a rural village. Here he befriends the local chief and embarks on the adventure of a lifetime; helping to reunite the chief's warring sons, fighting a money grabbing property company from turning the chief's land into a golf course, coaching the village soccer team and ultimately.. finding himself!
Finding Lenny
2009
1990s · 17 titles
7.2A group of covert CIA operatives trailing a potential new energy source are double-crossed by corrupt agent Morgan, who causes a helicopter crash in remote South Africa. The sole survivor, suffering severe amnesia, is nursed to recovery by a kindly native tribe who call him "Whoami" after the question he keeps asking. With the help of a mysterious reporter Christine, Whoami pieces together his past and tracks the turncoat agent and his criminal cohorts.
Who Am I?
1998
4.9A laundry-folding machine has been possessed by a demon, causing it to develop homicidal tendencies.
The Mangler
1995
5.3The two American Ninjas, Joe Armstrong and Sean Davidson, team up to do battle against a terrorist and his band of Ninjas.
American Ninja 4: The Annihilation
1990
6.8A South-African preacher goes to search for his wayward son who has committed a crime in the big city.
Cry, the Beloved Country
1995
4.6A cop from the moon is sent to the Earth, now possessed by motorcycle-riding "Mad Max"-like inhabitants, to stop a serum from being released that he believes is going to destroy the Earth
Lunar Cop
1995
5.1King Edward asks Sherlock Holmes to perform one more task before his retirement: to safeguard the Star of Africa on a trip to Cape Town. Soon the fabled jewel is stolen and several people end up being murdered.
Sherlock Holmes: Incident at Victoria Falls
1992
4.3Ex-DEA agent Jack receives an emergency message from his brother Phillip, whose team was ambushed on the Caribbean island of St. Keith. Jack goes to St. Keith to find his brother, who has been turned into a cyborg by the drug runner he was after.
Cyborg Cop
1993
4.3Vusi Madlazi returns to the South African village he left as a young boy to bury his father. He meets up with his brother Ernest, who tells him their other brother Stephen couldn't be contacted. Vusi goes to Johannesburg to find him, but at first can only find his neighbor/girlfriend, Karin, a stripper. Vusi proceeds to learn how conditions have changed since the end of apartheid, not always for the better for black men.
Dangerous Ground
1997
3.9New York publisher Dex Dellum sends his fiancée and star photographer Katy Mazur to Swaziland to shoot the taita falcon. There she meets 'highman' (altitude stuntman) Grant Orion, who practices skydiving. After an initial clash, they become hot lovers, her first infidelity. She's drugged before he leaves unannounced. In London Grant saves her from armed killers and discloses to be an Interpol agent. Dex has an incompatible story but is killed. It's the start of a cascade of violence and charades.
Freefall
1994
6.4The existence of the anti-Iraq coalition was threatened when Saddam targetted Israel. In order to keep Israel out of the war, and the coalition together the Scuds had to be stopped. SAS patrol Bravo Two Zero, under the command of Sgt. Andy McNab was tasked to destroy these weapons. Three of the SAS troopers were killed and four captured: Only one escaped - Cpl. Chris Ryan.
The One That Got Away
1996
3.7When Kyle and Evie Preston start exploring the grounds of their late grandmother's house they discover an old, abandoned mine shaft and soon find that the old lady's stories about fairies trapped underground were true.
The Fairy King
1998
6.0Kwagga Robertse owns a farm shop in the fictional Southern African country of Nambabwe and usually cons foreign tourists by pretending to kill a lion, thus earning him the nickname 'Urumbo' (Lion Killer) from the country's natives. Kwagga is upset when the UN sends a platoon of incompetent soldiers with the United Nations Transition Assistance Group (U.N.T.A.G.), to monitor the peace process, and ensure free and fair elections after the Nambabwean War for Independence. The U.N.T.A.G's American leader, Major Bradick D. Mackay and his second-in-command, Captain Zapman are offered a diamond worth a lot of money in the U.S., and they must pay 200,000 USD to Duan Robertse, Kwagga's competitive brother trying to buy a farm left to them by their dead father.
Oh Schucks...! Here Comes UNTAG
1990
6.0Robey Leibbrandt was a South African boxer who became fascinated with Nazi ideology during the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. In1939 he led an operation to overthrow the pro-Allied government of General Jan Smuts.
The Fourth Reich
1990
9.520-year old Percy Fitzpatrick hears about the Eastern Transvaal gold rush and sets out from Cape Town in hopes of finding fortune. He becomes a transport rider bringing in supplies from Delagoa Bay current Maputo and comes across a runt puppy and saves it's life and christens it Jock. Percy and Jock form a close bond and friendship and share many adventures. Based on the classic novel, JOCK OF THE BUSHVELD by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick.
Jock of the Bushveld
1995
3.0A feisty woman struggles to keep her ranch from being stolen by a greedy and unscrupulous land-baron named Malick. A trio of young men comes to her aid Dusty Fog, the "Kid," and Miguel. They are later joined by a fourth man named Mark, who switches allegiance away from Malick, and then by the local Sheriff who's finally forced to stand up to the local tyrant.
Trigger Fast
1994
4.5The bodies turn out to be very radioactive. A sheriff and reporter start to investigate ...
Burndown
1990
4.9Five years ago, Nick Brody lost his memory. He has moved on with his life when two strangers offer him a link to the unknown - his secret military past. After providing Nick with a mysterious picture and a cryptic message, the strangers turn up dead. The deeper he digs, the more Nick realizes that his puzzling past won't just haunt him, it could kill him.
Traitor's Heart
1999
1980s · 10 titles
3.6Three people are transported into a parallel universe. There they find that they must use modern technology, but medieval weapons, in order to save the citizenry from a murderous warlord.
Prisoners of the Lost Universe
1983
6.0Steve Woodman, a CIA official working for the United States Department of Agriculture, is gathering information about the illegal manufacture and use of Agent Orange, a defoliant used during the Vietnam War to destroy jungle growth and reveal enemy troops. But the lethal chemical proved to be a sentence worse than death for the babies born to anyone who came into contact with it. His investigations lead him to Africa and Clive Hyde, a bullying fertilizer baron whose greed for wealth far outweighs his social conscience. Posing as a journalist for an agricultural magazine, Steve suspects that it is Hyde's chemical plant that provides the crop spraying fertilizer used by the sugar cane farmers to make their crop grow taller. When the beautiful, young widow, Sarah Williams, shows Steve her stunted and grotesquely twisted vegetable crop, his suspicions are confirmed; and when he discovers Patrick and Maria's disfigured child he sets out to crush Hyde's illicit operation.
Toxic Effect
1989
3.7Twenty years ago, Vietnam turned three American boys into men, but amidst the horror, Johnny Burke cracked. When his friends, Max and Rudy, stop him from torturing an innocent Cambodian girl, he wheels on them and, aflame with hatred, vows vengeance.
American Eagle
1989
3.9In the 18th-century British Caribbean colony of St. Joseph's, decadent and hedonistic aristocrats rule with an iron fist and terrorize slaves and suspected criminals with a painful whip called the "dragonard."
Master of Dragonard Hill
1987
10.0Piet du Bois is a miner who wants to buy a farm. He meets a Bushman and his wife buying their land and expelling after. The Bushman exposes a legend about a fabulous hidden treasure.
Torn Allegiance
1986
5.7This family guy's got it all wrong. Instead of building a united and loving bunch, he destroys entire families in a single swipe. He must have gone on one-to-many family vacations.
Return of the Family Man
1989
6.5L.A. private eye Sam Black, who lives with his half-brother, Andrew, travels to the Bahamas to assist Abigail Marx, a woman who believes her husband is stealing money from their company.
Deadly Passion
1985
9.0A college professor and his ex-girlfriend find themselves being hunted by the CIA, the KGB and an African drug smuggler. Seems they have inadvertently gotten information that would show how the KGB gave the CIA state secrets in return for a cut of the African drug-smuggling market.
Scavengers
1987
Zulu tribesmen escort a shipwrecked 19th-century English sailor on a 600-mile round trip for supplies.
John Ross: An African Adventure
1987
4.0Near the end of WWII, a prisoner named Angelo is framed for murder.
My Friend Angelo
1986
1970s · 2 titles
5.9Somewhere in the middle of the English countryside a former judge and a group of former prison warders, including his lover, run their own prison for young women who have not been held properly to account for their crimes. Here they mete out their own form of justice and ensure that the girls never return to their old ways.
House of Whipcord
1974
7.4Through a series of real and imagined encounters with angels, demons, and England's pagan past, a pastor's son begins to question his religion and politics, and comes to terms with his sexuality.
Penda's Fen
1974
Series credits
6.6Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted. The individual episodes were between fifty and a hundred minutes in duration.
Play for Today
1970
7.2South Africa, 1823. The Zulu Empire, headed by King Shaka, a brilliant but ruthless military strategist, begin to encroach on the British colony of Cape Town. A volunteer cadre of explorers, mercenaries and professional soldiers are sent to Zululand to try to make contact with Shaka and assess the real threat of his army.
Shaka Zulu
1986
6.8The Devil's Whore is a four-part television drama serial produced by Company Pictures for Channel 4, broadcast from 19 November to 10 December 2008. As the English Civil War rages, when both politics and religion divide the nation, spirited aristocrat Angelica Fanshawe is drawn to the anti-monarchist cause. She tells the story as England dares to execute its king and search for an alternative means of government.
The Devil's Whore
2008
NRDark secrets are revealed after a tragic event at an elite boarding school sets off a search for the truth.
The Girl from St. Agnes
2019
9.0The infamous poisoner, Daisy Louisa de Melker (née Hancorn-Smith) was born on 1 July 1886 near Grahamstown. Daisy was charged with the murder of her two previous husbands and her son. Her trial began in October 1932 before Judge Greenberg in Johannesburg. Daisy was not found guilty of the murder of her two previous husbands, but she was found guilty of the murder of her son. On 30 December 1932, Daisy was hanged in Pretoria Central Prison, without ever pleading guilty or showing any remorse. Daisy was the second woman in South Africa to be hanged.
Daisy de Melker
1993

