Age, Biography and Wiki
Al J Venter (Albertus Johannes Venter) was born on 25 November, 1938 in Kroonstad, South Africa, is a South African journalist and writer (born 1938). Discover Al J Venter's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Learn How rich is he in this year and how he spends money? Also learn how he earned most of networth at the age of 85 years old?
Popular As |
Albertus Johannes Venter |
Occupation |
Writer, journalist, and film producer |
Age |
85 years old |
Zodiac Sign |
Sagittarius |
Born |
25 November 1938 |
Birthday |
25 November |
Birthplace |
Kroonstad, South Africa |
Nationality |
South Africa
|
We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous People born on 25 November.
He is a member of famous Writer with the age 85 years old group.
Al J Venter Height, Weight & Measurements
At 85 years old, Al J Venter height not available right now. We will update Al J Venter's Height, weight, Body Measurements, Eye Color, Hair Color, Shoe & Dress size soon as possible.
Physical Status |
Height |
Not Available |
Weight |
Not Available |
Body Measurements |
Not Available |
Eye Color |
Not Available |
Hair Color |
Not Available |
Who Is Al J Venter's Wife?
His wife is Madelon Anne McGregor (m. 1977)
Family |
Parents |
Not Available |
Wife |
Madelon Anne McGregor (m. 1977) |
Sibling |
Not Available |
Children |
3 sons and 2 daughters |
Al J Venter Net Worth
His net worth has been growing significantly in 2023-2024. So, how much is Al J Venter worth at the age of 85 years old? Al J Venter’s income source is mostly from being a successful Writer. He is from South Africa. We have estimated Al J Venter's net worth, money, salary, income, and assets.
Net Worth in 2024 |
$1 Million - $5 Million |
Salary in 2024 |
Under Review |
Net Worth in 2023 |
Pending |
Salary in 2023 |
Under Review |
House |
Not Available |
Cars |
Not Available |
Source of Income |
Writer |
Al J Venter Social Network
Instagram |
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Linkedin |
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Twitter |
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Facebook |
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Wikipedia |
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Imdb |
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Timeline
Al J. Venter (born Albertus Johannes Venter, 25 November 1938) is a South African war journalist, documentary filmmaker, and author of more than forty books who also served as an Africa and Middle East correspondent for Jane's International Defence Review.
The surname is pronounced "fen-ter".
Venter served in the South African Navy from 1956 to 1960, achieving the rank of Acting Leading Seaman.
He has been twice wounded in combat; once by a Soviet anti-tank mine in Angola, an event that left him partially deaf, and by submachine gun fire.
By his own account, by virtue of his reporting he is persona non-grata in Angola, Ethiopia, Iran, Libya, Syria, the former Soviet bloc (including Afghanistan),Tanzania, Zimbabwe.
Venter originally qualified as a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers at the Baltic Exchange in London.
Venter has published over 50 books with a number of publishers.
He wrote one of the first books on the developing guerrilla wars in Central and Southern Africa.
It dealt with Lisbon's escalating guerrilla war in Angola during the 1960s and 1970s that eventually led to the downfall of the government in the Metropolis.
Venter has reported on a number of wars in Africa, starting with the Nigerian Civil War in 1967 where he spent time covering the conflict with colleague Frederick Forsyth, who was working in Biafra for the BBC at the time.
He has published two books on nuclear proliferation, in particular from South Africa to Iran.
That was The Terror Fighters, published by the British company Purnells in Cape Town in 1969.
In the 1970s, Venter also reported in Uganda while under the reign of Idi Amin.
The most notable consequence of this assignment was an hour-long documentary titled Africa's Killing Fields, ultimately broadcast nationwide in the United States by PBS.
In-between, Venter cumulatively spent several years reporting on events in the Middle East, fluctuating between Israel and a beleaguered Lebanon torn by factional Islamic/Christian violence.
In the 1970s and 1980s, he found a wide readership with articles on Africa in England, the United States, and Europe, including Soldier of Fortune (Boulder, CO), Bulletin for Atomic Scientists, Middle East Policy, and Great Britain's Daily Express and Sunday Express, and the short-lived Eagle magazine (New York, NY).
Venter also wrote Coloured - A Profile of Two Million South Africans (Human & Rosseau, Cape Town 1974) which served as an indictment of Pretoria's racial policies and was penned before it became fashionable to be anti-Apartheid.
Unusually progressive for its time, the book highlighted the contribution of Coloured people against apartheid – some of whom went into exile or chose violent resistance.
While he opposed the political system, he got on extremely well with the South African military who subsequently developed a much more realistic approach against racial discrimination.
The anti-apartheid figure Robert McBride found the book to be one of the most influential toward starting his political activism.
Venter has contributed to Britain's Jane's Information Group publications for over 30 years.
He was published, inter alia, by Jane's Defence Weekly, Jane's Intelligence Review, Jane's Terrorism and Security Review, Jane's Islamic Affairs Analyst.
Before 9/11, he was reporting in considerable depth on nuclear, chemical and biological warfare developments in both the former Soviet Union and the Middle East.
Venter subsequently wrote three books on related nuclear issues.
Venter has written six books on underwater diving.
He was with the Israeli invasion force when they entered Beirut in 1982.
From there he covered hostilities in Rhodesia, the Sudan, Angola, the South African Border War, the Congo as well as Portuguese Guinea, which resulted in a book on that colonial struggle published by the Munger Africana Library of the California Institute of Technology.
In 1985 Venter made a one-hour documentary that commemorated the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
He also spent time in Somalia with the US Army helicopter air wing in the early 1990s, three military assignments with the mercenary group Executive Outcomes (Angola and Sierra Leone) and a Joint-STAR mission with the United States Air Force over Kosovo.
More recently, Venter was active in Sierra Leone with South African mercenary pilot Neall Ellis flying combat in a Russian helicopter gunship.
That experience formed the basis of the book on mercenaries published recently and titled War Dog: Fighting Other People's Wars.
His major work on free-diving (out of cages) with sharks, was published in 2012.