Willem Nijholt dies at 88: “Making people laugh is harder than making people cry”

Willem Nijholt

Credit: Wikimedia Commons: Bas_agterberg CC BY-SA 3.0 NL

Willem Nijholt died in his sleep at the age of 88. Nijholt was a multi-talent and could sing, dance and act. He has appeared in programs for both children and adults. He worked with greats like Wim Sonneveld, Annie M.G. Schmidt and Harry Bannink.


Willem Nijholt was born in 1934 in Gombong, Dutch East Indies, where he was imprisoned by the Japanese in various camps during the Second World War. In 2009, SBS Dutch interviewed the actor, and he said that as a small child he dreamed of “being on stage”.

Share
Follow SBS Dutch

Download our apps
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
Independent news and stories connecting you to life in Australia and Dutch-speaking Australians.
Get to know the Dutch provinces better through memories of Dutch people in Australia.
Get the latest with our exclusive in-language podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS News in Dutch

SBS News in Dutch

Watch it onDemand