Joke Bruijs (born 14 January 1952) is a

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

actress, singer and cabaret artist. She has performed with

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

s, recorded songs, and appeared in films and Dutch TV series. She has been called the "First Lady of

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

Early life, family and education

Bruijs was born in

in 1952 into a musical family.

Career

In 1966, Bruijs joined a pop group, The Spitfires, who were based in Rotterdam. She performed in cabaret shows with Mini & Maxi and the Dutch comedian

André van Duin Adrianus Marinus Kyvon (; 20 February 1947), known by his stage name André van Duin, is a Dutch comedian, singer-songwriter and television presenter. Van Duin is one of the Netherlands' best known entertainers, with a career spanning almost si ...

. in '' Toen was geluk heel gewoon'' In 1970, she competed in the

National Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

, performing the song "Okido" and placing fourth. She worked with singer and actor

Gerard Cox Gerardus Antonius "Gerard" Cox (born 6 March 1940, Rotterdam) is a Dutch singer, cabaret artist, actor, and director. For fifteen years, he played the lead character of the Dutch sitcom '' Toen Was Geluk Heel Gewoon''. Life In 2018, Cox had a l ...

, and they married. They performed as husband and wife in two Dutch sitcoms: '' Vreemde praktijken'' (1989–1993; ''Strange Practices''), followed the next year with the long-running series ''

Toen was geluk heel gewoon ''Toen was geluk heel gewoon'' (''When Happiness Was Very Common'') was a popular Dutch television sitcom. It was broadcast on KRO from January 2, 1994 through June 3, 2009. The series, a Dutch adaptation of the American sitcom ''The Honeymooners ...

'' (1994–2009; ''When Happiness Was Very Common''). They worked together later, after they were no longer married, in the feature film '' Casa Coco'' (2022). In 2009, she began appearing in the long-running Dutch soap opera ''

Goede tijden, slechte tijden (, ), also known as ''GTST'' or simply , is the longest-running Dutch soap opera, which began on 1 October 1990 on RTL4. The programme was the first daily (every workday) soap in the Netherlands and Europe. The soap is produced by Joop van de ...

''. She returned to perform on the show in 2010 and 2011. On screen she plays the mother of characters Rik and Danny de Jong before her character left for Canada. Her character returned to the story in 2018. She sang on tour with

The Ramblers The Ramblers' Association, branded simply as the Ramblers, is Great Britain's walking charity. The Ramblers is also a membership organisation with around 100,000 members and a network of volunteers who maintain and protect the path network. T ...

. The performed together in the 1960s on Dutch radio.

Honors and awards

In 2003, Rotterdam presented her an Erasmus Pin. After fifty years as a performer, Bruijs was celebrated with a concert at

De Doelen De Doelen is a concert venue and convention centre in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It was originally built in 1934 but then destroyed in 1940 during the German bombardment of Rotterdam in May 1940 at the outset of World War II. It was rebuilt in 19 ...

on May 7, 2017, that featured North Sea Symphonic Bigbad Orchestra.

Personal life

She was married to the singer Gerard Cox; they have remained good friends. Since about 2003 she has been in a relationship with the musician Frits Landesbergen. They made an album together as his marriage was ending, and her marriage to Boris Beyer had ended. Landesbergen is younger by eleven years. They have a second home on the Dutch Caribbean island of

Bonaire Bonaire is a Caribbean island in the Leeward Antilles, and is a Caribbean Netherlands, special municipality (officially Public body (Netherlands), "public body") of the Netherlands. Its capital is the port of Kralendijk, on the west (Windward an ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruijs, Joke 1952 births Living people Actresses from Rotterdam 20th-century Dutch comedians 21st-century Dutch comedians Dutch actresses Dutch women singers Dutch women comedians Comedians from Rotterdam