Lou van Burg (born Loetje van Weerdenburg) (25 August 1917 - 26 April 1986) was a Dutchman who had a successful career as a television personality, singer and

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, sh ...

host in Germany. Born in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

, van Burg began his career as a singer and conferencier in Paris

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or ...

s. He first appeared as a TV entertainer on the Austrian ORF broadcaster in 1958 and shortly afterwards also on German ARD. When the second German television broadcaster

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

had launched in 1963, van Burg in the following year became the host of ''Der goldene Schuss'', a game show that quickly reached an immense popularity. Referring to Schiller's ''

Wilhelm Tell William Tell (german: Wilhelm Tell, ; french: Guillaume Tell; it, Guglielmo Tell; rm, Guglielm Tell) is a folk hero of Switzerland. According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albr ...

'', in an early example of an interactive game the contestants, supported by viewers via telephone, had to true up the bolt of a

crossbow A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an elastic launching device consisting of a bow-like assembly called a ''prod'', mounted horizontally on a main frame called a ''tiller'', which is hand-held in a similar fashion to the stock of a long fire ...

trying to hit the bullseye on a displayed target. The ritual, accompanied by van Burg's

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

s (''"Wunnebar"''), became a TV classic. On 25 August 1966 the show was even broadcast from the

Monte Carlo Casino The Monte Carlo Casino, officially named Casino de Monte-Carlo, is a gambling and entertainment complex located in Monaco. It includes a casino, the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, and the office of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo. The Casino de Monte-Carlo ...

starring

Grace Kelly Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) was an American actress who, after starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956. Kelly ...

and in 1967 it was adopted by the British ITV network (''

The Golden Shot ''The Golden Shot'' is a British television game show produced by ATV for ITV between 1 July 1967 and 13 April 1975, based on the German TV show '' Der goldene Schuß''. It is most commonly associated with host Bob Monkhouse, but three other ...

''). In the same year however, van Burg had to hand off the show after the yellow press had spread rumours about his private life. In 1975 he acted in Rosa von Praunheim's film ''Berliner Bettwurst'', which brought him back into business in 1976, again hosting several game shows on TV. From 1979 he also worked with Frank Elstner as a radio host on the German service of Radio Luxemburg. Lou van Burg died in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, aged 68.

Literature

* Lou van Weerdenburg: ''Lou van Burg erzählt: Aus dem Leben eines Fernsehstars''. Kranich-Verlag: Berlin-Zehlendorf 1961

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Burg, van Lou Dutch television personalities Dutch game show hosts Dutch radio personalities Mass media people from The Hague Dutch emigrants to Germany 1917 births 1986 deaths ZDF people