Willem Edsger "Bill" van Dijk (born 22 December 1947) is a Dutch singer and musical performer. He is best known for his rendition of the ''

Wilhelmus "Wilhelmus van Nassouwe", known simply as "Wilhelmus", or written with the article as "Het Wilhelmus", is the national anthem of both the Netherlands and its sovereign state, the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It dates back to at least 1572, makin ...

'' (the national anthem of the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

), which he performed on countless occasions in football stadiums. Moreover, Van Dijk worked on various musical productions. In 1982, he represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest. His song, "Jij en ik", written by Dick Bakker (music), Liselore Gerritsen (lyrics) and Peter Schön (musical arrangement), failed to make an impression in Harrogate: it finished 16th with only 8 points. He performed voices on ''

Sesamstraat () is a Dutch television series in the Netherlands, and a localized version of the U.S. children's program ''Sesame Street''. In its early days, the show was broadcast in Flanders (Belgium) as well. It is the second longest-running foreign ada ...

'', the Dutch co-production of ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

''. Van Dijk did the voices of

Roosevelt Franklin Roosevelt Franklin is an African-American Muppet who was featured on the children's television series ''Sesame Street'' during the early 1970s. Fictional character biography He is purple with shaggy black hair that stands on end. His name is ...

Clementine A clementine (''Citrus × clementina'') is a tangor, a citrus fruit hybrid between a willowleaf mandarin orange ( ''C.'' × ''deliciosa'') and a sweet orange (''C. × sinensis''), named in honor of Clément Rodier, a French missionary who f ...

, and many of the rock singers on the show (such as Little Chrissy and Bip Bipadotta). He was active on Sesamstraat until the early 1990s. Van Dijk portrayed the title character in both the Dutch and

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

productions of '' Cyrano: The Musical'' in the early 1990s. He also played one of the lead roles in the Dutch production of the musical ''

HAIR Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and ...

'' in the early 1970s, performing in Amsterdam at The Desmet Theatre and touring throughout the country. He also played Clopin in the

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

movie

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996 film) ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' is a 1996 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is loosely based on the 1831 novel of the same name by Victor Hugo. The film ...

in the Dutch version.

References

1947 births Living people Dutch male musical theatre actors Musicians from Rotterdam Eurovision Song Contest entrants {{Netherlands-actor-stub