Leon Ernest "Schuks" Schuster (born 21 May 1951) is a South African filmmaker, comedian, actor, prankster and singer. Early life Schuster was drawn to the filmmaking process at an early age. As a child he and his brother would play practical jokes on his family and film it. He explained, in a 2010 interview about his early life in Bloemfontein, “I remember running down the aisle of the Ritz Theatre, playing cowboys & crooks, which was all the rage at the time. I also remember loving Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin and the Three Stooges. I was always acting things out, and pulling pranks. I used to fool my grandma into thinking I’d shot myself in the foot with my pellet gun… tomato sauce everywhere, me squealing like a wild pig. Pranking is just in my nature, but I’d never thought I’d become a movie star… no, I’m not a movie star, I’m just a local outjie that likes to entertain people. Schuster studied for a BA degree at the University of the Orange Free State, where he played rugby for the first team. He returned to Jim Fouché as a teacher for two years. Career Schuster began working for the South African Broadcasting Corporation. During his time at the SABC, he created the Afrikaans radio series Vrypostige Mikrofoon with Fanus Rautenbach – which involved disguising his voice and playing phone pranks on unsuspecting victims. Music In 1982, Schuster was approached by Decibel Records to compile a series of sports songs which resulted in his first record entitled, Leon Schuster, having sold 10,000 units. His second album, Broekskeur ('trouser-tearing'), sold in excess of 40,000 units. This was then followed by Briekdans and Leon Schuster – 20 Treffers, which sold more than 270,000 copies. His hit CD Hier Kom Die Bokke ('Here Come The Boks') garnered an FNB Sama Music Award for Biggest Selling CD of 1995. His following CD, Gatvol in Paradise, sold in more than 125,000 units and gave rise to the unofficial Gauteng anthem, "Gautengeleng". Hey Bokke! was re-released in 2019 - an adaptation of the 1960s song Hey Baby in the hope that lightning might strike twice. South Africa won the World Cup. The prolific South African songwriter, Don Clarke, co-wrote the lyrics. Film Schuster's first feature, You Must Be Joking!, produced in collaboration with Johan Scholtz and Elmo de Witt, became popular with South African audiences