Ian Player

Born in Johannesburg, Player spent his first years in a modest timber and corrugated iron home at the Robinson Deep gold mine. Player’s father Francis Player was a shift boss at the mine; he married Muriel in 1922. Player’s sister Wilma was born in 1934 and Gary Player was born a year later in 1935.

Player was educated at St. John's College, Johannesburg, Union of South Africa. At school he excelled at sports, but a serious knee injury prevented him from pursuing them. He instilled a love of sport and physical discipline in his brother Gary.{{Cite book |last=Linscott |first=Graham |title=Into the River of Life: A biography of Ian Player |date=25 June 2013 |publisher=Jonathan Ball Publishers |year=2013 |isbn=9781868425471 |pages=}}

Player served in the 6th Armoured Division attached to the American 5th Army in Italy 1944–46.{{Cite web |title=Legends and Legacies of Conservation in Africa |url=https://legendsandlegaciesofafrica.org/ianplayer.php# |access-date=2025-06-01 |website=legendsandlegaciesofafrica.org}}

Immediately after the war Player worked in the gold-mines.{{Cite web |date=2014-12-06 |title=Obituary: Ian Player, conservationist |url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/obituary-ian-player-conservationist-1518946 |access-date=2025-06-01 |website=The Scotsman |language=en}}

Player's conservation career can said to have begun in 1952 when he became a game ranger in the Umfolozi Game Reserve, in northern Zululand, in the service of the Natal Parks Board.

Player married Ann Farrer in 1957. They had three children: Kenneth, Jessica and Amyas.{{cite web |last= |first= |title=Ian Player, South African conservationist who worked to save the rhino, dies at 87 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/ian-player-south-african-conservationist-who-worked-to-save-the-rhino-dies-at-87/2014/12/06/e6a928d8-7cc5-11e4-84d4-7c896b90abdc_story.html |website=Washington Post}}

Player died on 30 November 2014 of a stroke.

Player's conservation career started with the Natal Parks Board in 1952 and whilst Warden of the Umfolozi Game Reserve, he spearheaded two key initiatives:

• Operation Rhino - that saved the few remaining southern race of white rhino.
• Protected status for the Umfolozi and St. Lucia Wilderness Areas (now known as the iSimangaliso Wetland Park World Heritage Site)- The first wilderness areas to be zoned in South Africa and on the African continent.

Player was the Founder of the Wilderness Leadership School,{{cite web|url=http://www.wildernesstrails.org.za|title=Home|first=Wilderness Leadership|last=School|website=www.wildernesstrails.org.za}} which still runs the original wilderness trails to this day.

File:WildernessLeadershipSchool.jpg This led to the formation of the Wild Foundation, the Wilderness Foundation SA, Wilderness Foundation UK, Magqubu Ntombela Foundation not to mention the World Wilderness Congresses, first convened in 1977.

In 2004 Player collaborated with Sarah Collins, entrepreneur, visionary, and women's rights activist, to create 'Take Back The Future'. The objective was to tempt mainstream South African youth into this arena of wilderness preservation. 'Take Back The Future' raised money through selling earth worms, and growing and selling vegetables at farmer's markets. By setting up youth groups they were able to innovate and upscale the concept across communities in South Africa.{{Cite web|title=Sarah Collins|url=https://genconnectu.com/expert/sarah-collins/|access-date=2022-01-06|website=genconnectU|language=en-US}}

Amongst many orders and awards, Player was awarded the Knight of the Order of the Golden Ark and the Decoration for Meritorious Service (the then highest Republic of South African civilian award). He was the recipient of two honorary doctorates:

• Doctor of Philosophy, Honoris Causa from the University of Natal.
• Doctor of Laws (LLD) (h.c.) from Rhodes University.{{cite web |url=http://www.ru.ac.za/academic/graduation/2003/ianplayercitation.doc |title=CITATION by the Rhodes University Public Orator, Professor Paul Walters |access-date=2007-06-30 |last=Walters |first=Paul |year=2003 |format=doc |publisher=Rhodes University }}{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Player's archives and legacy are owned and managed by his nephew Marc Player, who has initiated several projects including books (Into the River of Life) a feature-length movie, a TV series built around Operation Rhino translocation program and THE PLAYER INDABA which seeks global "PLAYERS' to raise funds to fight the extinction of various threatened animal species. The Ian Player Foundation has also been established as a charitable organization aiding nature conservation, wildlife activism and environmental education.

The famous movie director and producer Howard Hawks, wanted a movie about people who catch animals in Africa for zoos, a dangerous profession with exciting scenes the likes of which had never been seen on-screen before. The name of his blockbuster movie is Hatari!, starring John Wayne. Hawks increased his knowledge in catching animals from Player's humane work. In 1952 South Africa was disastrously embarked to eliminate all large wild animals to protect livestock, and only 300 white rhinos survived. Player then started his famed rhino catching technique to relocate and save the white rhinos. Player's humane project was called Operation Rhino and the renowned film documentary named Operation Rhino was produced. Hawks studied this film documentary repeatedly to help incorporate aspects of it into his film Hatari!.Thomas McIntyre, May/June 2012, "Fifty Years of HATARI! – The Story of Most Expensive Safari In the World", Sports Afield, pg 70Todd McCarthy, Howard Hawks: the grey fox of Hollywood, New York, Grove Press, 1997, pg 575, {{ISBN|0-8021-1598-5}}

In June 1964, Player appeared on the panel show To Tell the Truth as himself, highlighting his role as warden of Hluhluwe–Imfolozi Park and his work protecting white rhinos.{{Cite episode |title=Ian Player, Gail Erbeck, Pepita Riera |episode-link= |url=http://www.ttttontheweb.com/ttttnighttimeguide.html |access-date=4 October 2016 |series=What's My Line |series-link=What's My Line |date=8 June 1964}} Host Bud Collyer noted that scenes of white rhinos shown at the beginning of the episode were from Ivan Tors' movie Rhino!, released a few weeks earlier, and for which Player acted as a technical advisor.{{cite web|title=Rhino!|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058522/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast|website=IMDb|access-date=4 October 2016}}

• Men, Rivers and Canoes – 1964 - [http://www.echoinggreenpress.com/current.html#men Reissued 2007]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} - {{ISBN|978-0-9802501-2-1}}
• White Rhino Saga – 1972 - {{ISBN|978-0-00-211938-2}}
• Big Game – 1972 - ASIN: B0007BO5E4
• Man and the Wilderness – 1986 - ASIN: B0007BQ0FG
• [https://archive.today/20080501175438/http://www.wild.org/Store/Publications/Zulu_Wilderness.htm Zululand Wilderness: Shadow and Soul] – 1997 - {{ISBN|978-0-86486-340-9}} - [https://archive.today/20080501175438/http://www.wild.org/Store/Publications/Zulu_Wilderness.htm archive]
• [http://www.wild.org/category/blog/ian-player-perspectives/ Ian Player Perspective], stories by and about Dr. Ian Player

Dr. Player receives the 2012 Anton Rupert Award for Lifetime Achievement in Conservation{{Cite web |date=2015-06-16 |title=Dr. Ian Player - WILD Foundation |url=https://wild.org/ian-player/ |access-date=2023-04-16 |language=en-US}}

{{Reflist}}

• http://www.ianplayerfoundation.com
• [http://www.wild.org/ WILD Foundation]
• [http://www.wildernessfoundation.co.za/ Wilderness Foundation SA]
• [http://www.wildernessfoundation.org.uk/ Wilderness Foundation UK] and articles about him on their [http://wildernessfoundationuk.blogspot.com/search?q=ian+player blog]
• [http://Wildernesstrails.org.za Wilderness Leadership School]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW1hQcilmRA

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Player, Ian}}

Category:1927 births

Category:2014 deaths

Category:People from Johannesburg

Category:South African conservationists

Category:South African people of British descent

Category:Alumni of St John's College (Johannesburg)