About Lizz Meiring

In 2026 Lizz Meiring celebrates 55 years in the performing arts — and in more than four decades as a qualified professional, she has never spent a single day out of work. One of South Africa’s most versatile entertainment figures, she moves effortlessly between the classics and contemporary drama, farce, comedy, sitcom, musicals, pantomime and cabaret, often working on as many as six projects at once.

Her story began at the age of nine, on stage at the University of Pretoria Drama Department in C.J. Langenhoven’s Vrou van Suid-Afrika, directed by the legendary Anna Neethling-Pohl. After graduating with a B.A. Drama (Honours) from the University of Pretoria in 1983, she built one of the fullest careers in the country: more than 500 stage productions, 450 television productions and 35 feature films, with credits ranging from Pieter-Dirk Uys’s satirical revues to the Netflix thriller Ludik.

“From Lady Macbeth to a pop-up toaster — she’s played it all.”

Lizz is equally at home behind the scenes. She has written and directed hundreds of productions and is the writer, director and co-producer of My Naam is Ellen Pakkies — which ran for five years to sell-out houses and toured to the Netherlands — one of the longest-running dramas in South Africa. A published novelist and columnist with 13 published books and 4 e-books to her name, her young-adult novel BREEK (co-written with Barrie Hough) has been reprinted many times and is a prescribed school set-work nationwide.

Her talents extend to television presenting, voice artistry, screenwriting, translation (English, Afrikaans and French), copywriting, lecturing and work as a qualified, registered auctioneer. She is a much-loved MC and guest speaker at corporate and charity events across the country, and in 2025 founded her own company, Lizz Meiring Productions (Pty) Ltd.

With 29 awards and 18 further nominations — including honours for lifetime contribution to the arts from the Naledi Awards, KKNK, ATKV and the Melomaan Legend Award — Lizz remains an unstoppable creative force. A passionate advocate for artists, she champions entrepreneurship and job creation in the arts, has served on the board of the Theatre Benevolent Fund since 2015, and has given thousands of performances free of charge for causes close to her heart.