André van Duin

1960s: New Harvest and Snip & Snap

Van Duin was discovered in 1964 when he won the AVRO talent contest show New Harvest (Dutch: Nieuwe Oogst), giving him the opportunity to debut on television alongside singing father and daughter Willy and Willeke Alberti.

From 1967 onwards, he made regular appearances on Dutch television and took apprenticeship at comedians Snip & Snap's theatre shows.

1970s: Revue, Dik Voormekaar Show, big hits

In the 1970s André van Duin set up his own Revue with Frans van Dusschoten as the straight man and Corrie van Gorp as the leading lady. These shows were televised on TROS and in 1975 Van Duin won an award for Dag Dag Heerlijke Lach. During this decade Van Duin had hits such as "Het bananenlied" (1972, parody of the Banana Boat Song), "Angelique", "De tamme boerenzoon", "Doorgaan", and "Willy Alberti, bedankt".

In 1972, André van Duin began the radio program Dik Voormekaar Show. First with broadcasting company Radio Noordzee Internationaal, later with the NCRV and TROS. He involved his then technician, Ferry de Groot, in the show, becoming the character "Meneer de Groot" (Mister de Groot). The show continued to air till 2009. The same year André van Duin debuted as an actor in Het Meisje Met De Blauwe Hoed (The Girl With The Blue Hat), playing an army recruit.

As van Duin continued to issue records, he would occasionally release singles "in character", giving artist credit to one or more of his characters (though he would take writing and/or production credit as André van Duin.) Van Duin characters who issued their own singles in the 1970s and 80s (sometimes working in duos, trios, quartets, etc.) include Dik Voormekaar, Ome Joop, Harry Nak, Meneer De Groot, Simon Naaigaren, Zangeres Zonder Raam, Joep Meloen, Moe Kangeroe, and Bep En Toos.

In January 1976, Van Duin had a massive hit with "Willempie". Parents of mentally challenged children considered it offensive. The song was banned while a controversy lasted, and "Willempie" was number 1 on AVRO's TopPop-chart for three weeks. Van Duin escaped legal actions by apologising on television.

As a follow-up, Van Duin released File, a traffic jam cover version of Morris Albert's "Feelings"; it foreshadowed his first album to feature serious songs only; And're André (The Other André) was released in 1977, and till 1985 four sequels were recorded with translated songs as well as Dutch classics. Besides the And're André-series, Van Duin went on to explore his serious side on Wij (Us), Wij Twee (Two of Us), Zing (Sing; Perry Como-translations), Recht Uit Het Hart (Straight From The Heart; including songs about his homosexuality and dementia) and Van Duin Zingt Sonneveld (Wim Sonneveld-covers, including a remake of his adopted signature-song Het Dorp).

1980s: Films, more hits, and tv

In the 1980s, "Er staat een paard in de gang" (1981) and "Ik heb hele grote bloemkolen" (1989) became hits that grew from stage performances. His fun hits were "interrupted" by tributes to the sunny weather (Als de zon schijnt and Want het is zomer) and durable friendship (a duet with Willeke Alberti).

In 1981 he starred in his own movie; Ik Ben Joep Meloen, which was a reasonable success.

In 1982, Van Duin released De Boezemvriend, partly an adaptation of the Danny Kaye movie The Inspector General, which portrays charlatan dentist Fred van der Zee mistaken for Napoleon's delegate. De Boezemvriend was considered a failure. Van Duin has not returned to the big screen since.

The TV-special that accompanied the 1985 volume of And're Andre triggered off the WWF-promoting Animal Crackers-series.

In 1989, Van Duin, alongside stable-mate Ron Brandsteder, was taken over by TV Tien, the commercial station that never happened due to transmission problems; instead they ended up being team-captains in Wie ben ik? hosted by Caroline Tensen.

1990s: Pizza Song and the RTL years

In 1993 he scored a major hit with "Pizzalied (Effe Wachten)".

Between 1993 and 1999 Van Duin made television shows for RTL.

2000s: New Revue and Dik Voormekaar Show

In 2007 the André's Nieuwe Revue-tour was launched; Belgium was visited in November 2008 for five shows in Antwerp.

After 18 years with RTL, Van Duin happily returned to the TROS. In 2009 he made a new series of Dik Voormekaar Shows.

2010s; new directions

In March 2010, Van Duin released Dubbel, a 2CD-compilation made up of both serious and wacky songs including new tracks such as the mother's day-tribute "Moederdag" another compromise and a cattle-themed cover-version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah".

In 2013 Van Duin ressurected Animal Crackers for two seasons.

In 2014 Van Duin celebrated his 50th career- anniversary by hosting a 16-episode Best Of.

In 2015 Van Duin debuted as a stage-actor in The Sunshine Boys starring alongside Kees Hulst. They toured for a year and collaborated further in a drama-series set in a nursing-home; the first season was broadcast from October 23, 2017 onwards. Van Duin also found new success as the host of The Great Dutch Bake Off; he more or less replaced Martine Bijl who is recovering from an SAH.

In 2017 Van Duin acted as a voice-over for a BBC-style wildlife-documentary; Wild premiered in cinemas in February 2018. Two months later Animal Crackers returned in the last-minute slot of talkshow Tijd voor MAX.

On June 21, 2018 Van Duin received a lifetime-achievement award at the Zilveren Nipkowschijf-ceremony.

In August 2018 Van Duin hosted De Nieuwe Lekkerbek, a contest for inventive snacks.