More André van Duin: 60 years as a craftsman in the media

André van Duin was born on February 20, 1947, in Rotterdam as Adrie (Adrianus Marinus) Kyvon. His breakthrough came on June 24, 1964, when, at the age of 17, he won the talent show Nieuwe Oogst with his first television appearance under the stage name André van Duin. Things moved quickly after that. Today, André van Duin stands at the philatelic spotlight for 60 years as the greatest Dutch artist. In the past, even more stamps featuring André van Duin have been issued. And what a surprise PostNL has pulled out all the stops with these various releases!

André van Duin (1947)

General

Adrianus Marinus Kyvon (born Adrianus Marinus Kloot, 1947), known by the stage name André van Duin, is a Dutch comedian, revue artist, singer, actor, director, presenter, lyricist, and programme maker. As recently as 1964, he performed with his band parody act on the popular TV show of Willy and Willeke Alberti and opened for the Rolling Stones at the Kurhaus in Scheveningen. In 1968, André joined the Snip en Snap Revue, and in 1969, he got his own major show, *Lach In De Ruimte* (Laugh in Space), as a duo with master of ceremonies Frans van Dusschoten. In the years that followed, Van Duin grew into one of the greatest entertainers the Netherlands has ever known, as an imitator, comedian, film star, singer, lyricist, programme maker, and presenter. He has received many awards, including the Johan Kaart Prize in 1985, the Golden Triangle in 1992, the Beeld en Geluid Oeuvre Award in 2010, the Edison Oeuvre Award for Cabaret and Comedy in 2012, an Honorary Silver Nipkow Disc in 2018, the Televizier Star in the category Best Presenter in 2021, and in the same year he was named Broadcaster of the Year. Since 2016, he has been the presenter of the TV program Heel Holland Bakt. Together with Janny van der Heijden, André van Duin presented the programs Denkend aan Holland and Denkend aan Zwitserland.

 

Biography

André van Duin was born in 1947 on Watergeusstraat in Rotterdam-West as Adrianus Marinus Kloot. His father worked as a warehouse clerk at the Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij. As a young boy, Van Duin saw performances by Johnny Kraaykamp and Rita Corita, among others, at staff parties there. This led him to hone his skills in imitating famous Dutch people. In primary school, Van Duin stood out not only because of his red hair, but also because of these imitations and his sense of humor. He quickly became the star of every class party. After primary school, Van Duin went to vocational school to train as a machinist. However, his main interest remained parodying artists, although his teachers were often unhappy with the moments Van Duin chose for his imitations.  

Television

From 1967 onwards, Van Duin appeared regularly on Dutch television. In 1969, under the direction of Guus Verstraete Jr., Van Duin produced five television shows for the AVRO titled *Een avondje teevee met André*. In 1972, he played the role of Toon Bulthuis in the television series *Het meisje met de blauwe hoed*, based on the book by Johan Fabricius. In 1973, the radio program *de Dik voor Mekaar Show* originated, which was very popular in the 70s and 80s. From 1977 to 1979, a television series of *de Dik Voor Mekaar Show* developed from this.

In 1978 and 1979, he presented the TROS program *Te land, ter zee en in de lucht*. He did not limit himself to presenting, but also acted as a comedian during the program. During a musical interlude by Luv', for example, he would stand among the girls and dance and sing along as a character. Furthermore, he made himself immortal as a commentator. René Stokvis had the idea that, besides Van Duin, they actually needed a second presenter to do the voice-over. The TROS set up an empty booth on the grounds, and in that booth sat a Mr. Vreugdevol, who supposedly provided commentary in the company of gardener Pol in de Grond, also a character played by Van Duin (“My grass, my grass!” whenever a car ended up on the roadside). In his own unique way, Van Duin accompanied the participants with comical commentary. In the credits of 1979, this character was listed as 'commentary: Mr. Vreugdevol'.

From 1988, Van Duin presented the program Animal Crackers for the TROS, which was renamed Wegtrekkers & Animal Crackers in 1989. In this program, he provided humorous voice-overs for clips of zoo animals. As Jaap Aap, he did the same with footage from current events. The most famous example was De minuut van Ruud, in which he voiced the character of Ruud Lubbers. He always concluded with the phrase: “Tuut tuut tuut, greetings from Ruud.” From 1990, Wegtrekkers & Animal Crackers moved to RTL 4, initially under the title Jaap Aap's Mediamangel. From 1990 to 2000, Van Duin co-hosted the RTL 4 quiz show Wie ben ik? alongside Ron Brandsteder, presented by Caroline Tensen. The Dik Voormekaar Show, written and presented in 2009 by André van Duin and Ferry de Groot, returned to television that year in twelve episodes on TROS. A year later, on Saturday evenings on Nederland 1, Van Duin replaced Paul de Leeuw, who had previously presented X de Leeuw during this time slot, with Van Duin op z'n best. This was a compilation program featuring old and new material from the comedian Van Duin. In 2013, a new series of Animal Crackers started. In 2014, Van Duin, together with TROS, produced sixteen episodes of 50 jaar Van Duin. In this series, the character Jan Wijdbeens (André van Duin) visits a special guest with whom he shares fun or cherished memories (either as himself in a double role or with a Dutch celebrity). Together, they look back at the funniest scenes from Van Duin's artistic oeuvre and a wide range of performances. The weekly magazine Donald Duck dedicated a special edition to the comedian on the occasion of his fifty-year artistic anniversary. Van Duin celebrated this at the Beatrix Theater in Utrecht with a special gala, which AVROTROS broadcast on television a few weeks later.

In 2016, Van Duin took over the presentation of the program. All of Holland Bakt He took over from Martine Bijl following her brain hemorrhage in 2015. This was initially intended to be temporary, but Bijl passed away, meaning Van Duin succeeded her permanently. He also presented the program Smaakt naar meer. Together with Janny van der Heijden, with whom Van Duin had already collaborated on the television program Heel Holland Bakt, he explores parts of the Netherlands, primarily from the water. The first broadcast of Denkend aan Holland, on Omroep MAX on NPO 1, was on August 5, 2019. This program was also shown on television during the summers of 2020 and 2021. Together, they completed the Elfstedentocht by boat in five episodes in January 2022. This was followed by Denkend aan Zwitserland. In 2017 and 2019, Van Duin starred in the drama series. The secret diary of Hendrik Groen from Omroep MAX. In this drama series, based on the book *Pogingen iets van het leven te maken* by the Dutch writer Hendrik Groen, he played a leading role alongside Kees Hulst and Olga Zuiderhoek, among others.  

Music

In 2017, Het Algemeen Dagblad called him 'the Netherlands' greatest popular comedian for over half a century'. Van Duin recorded various singles right from the start of his career. Among his biggest hits are Willempie (1976), I Have Very Big Cauliflowers (1979), There Is a Horse in the Hallway (1981), When the Sun Shines (1983), Pizza Song (1993) and The Queen's Balls (2009). Willempie was a huge success. The song topped the Dutch Top 40 for three weeks. Willempie was about a person with an intellectual disability. Some interpreted it as mocking the intellectually disabled. Parents and caregivers of the intellectually disabled filed an injunction, arguing that Willempie was a caricature of the intellectually disabled, thereby infringing upon their human dignity. Consequently, AVRO's Toppop, which followed the National Hit Parade, did not play the song for some time. Van Duin avoided the lawsuit by offering his apologies on Toppop for unintentionally offending those involved.

 

<strong> More info: </strong>

André van Duin Weblog: https://andrevanduin.wordpress.com/ Webshop with collector's items: https://www.lachmeemetandre.com/