Catharina Anna Petronella Antonia "Kitty" Courbois (13 July 1937 – 11 March 2017) was a Dutch actress. In 2010 she was awarded the Medal of Merit.

Career

Kitty Courbois was born into a wigmaker family in

Nijmegen Nijmegen ( , ; Nijmeegs: ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and the ninth largest of the Netherlands as a whole. Located on the Waal River close to the German border, Nijmegen is one of the oldest cities in 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 ...

. She has six brothers and sisters. Her youngest brother is jazz musician

Pierre Courbois Pierre Courbois (born 23 April 1940 in Nijmegen, Netherlands) is a Dutch jazz drummer, bandleader, and composer. Career He is the younger brother of actress Kitty Courbois. After studying percussion at the ''Hogeschool der Kunsten'' in Arnhem, ...

. Her first breakthrough role came in 1961 with a restaging of Tennessee Williams's ''

The Rose Tattoo ''The Rose Tattoo'' is a three-act play written by Tennessee Williams in 1949 and 1950; after its Chicago premiere on December 29, 1950, he made further revisions to the play for its Broadway premiere on February 2, 1951, and its publication b ...

'', directed by Ko van Dijk. Her debut as Rosa Delle Rose was met a positive reception and she was regarded as a talented actor with a bright future. Courbois appeared in her first theatrical film in the ''Helden in een schommelstoel'' segment of the Italian

anthology film An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film or a portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of three or more shorter films, each complete in itself and distinguished from the other, though frequently tied together by a single theme, premise ...

, ''Gli eroi di ieri… oggi… domani'', by fellow Dutch creatives, director Frans Weisz and writer

Remco Campert Remco Campert (28 July 1929 – 4 July 2022) was a Dutch author, poet and columnist. Early years Remco Wouter Campert was born in The Hague, son of writer and poet Jan Campert, author of the poem ''De achttien dooden'', and actress Joekie Bro ...

. This would mark her first collaboration with Weisz. A take on the

spaghetti Western The spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's filmmaking style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...

, It follows two American cowgirls that end up in Rome and began a love affair with a

twist Twist may refer to: In arts and entertainment Film, television, and stage * ''Twist'' (2003 film), a 2003 independent film loosely based on Charles Dickens's novel ''Oliver Twist'' * ''Twist'' (2021 film), a 2021 modern rendition of ''Olive ...

singer, one integrated herself in Italy and one remains firmly American, Courbios played the latter character. It was released in 1964. In 1969, Courbois starred in the

TROS TROS, originally an acronym for Televisie Radio Omroep Stichting ("Television Radio Broadcasting Foundation"), was a Dutch television and radio organisation part of the Dutch public broadcasting system. This broadcasting association was partic ...

television programme, ''Kitty in Flipperland'' also known as ''Anno Domini '69'' alongside

Ramses Shaffy Ramses Shaffy (29 August 1933 – 1 December 2009) was a Dutch-French singer and actor who became popular during the 1960s. His most famous songs include "Zing, vecht, huil, bid, lach, werk en bewonder", "We zullen doorgaan", "Pastorale", "Samm ...

, the pop group

Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

and the cartoonist of

Lucky Luke ''Lucky Luke'' is a Western (genre), Western bande dessinée, comic album series created by Belgian cartoonist Morris (cartoonist), Morris in 1946. Morris wrote and drew the series single-handedly until 1955, after which he started collaborati ...

among others. Courbois was the creative lead on the project, it was based her own ideas which was built around gambling and slot machines which considered herself an enthusiast of. The show ran into production problems and would court controversy. On February 6, during filming that involved fireworks, Courbois sustained minor burns and was brought to a local hospital for treatment. She would resume production afterwards. The programme was cancelled at first by TROS leadership citing the reasons of "the quality not reaching reasonable standards" and "to protect Kitty Courbois". In response, producer

Rijk de Gooyer Rijk de Gooyer (17 December 1925 – 2 November 2011) was a Dutch Golden Calf-winning actor, writer, comedian and singer. From the 1950s until the early 1970s, he became well known in The Netherlands as part of a comic duo with John Kraaijkamp ...

and director Jop Pannekoek gave their notices. Courbois was surprised by the rejection. The programme was ultimately broadcast on its original date of February 21. It was met a negative response by audiences. She had a supporting role in

Paul Verhoeven Paul Verhoeven (; born 18 July 1938) is a Dutch filmmaker, who has worked variously in the Netherlands, the United States, and in France. He is known for directing genre films with strong satirical elements, often featuring graphic violence and ...

's '' Flesh and Blood''. In it she was part of a mercenary group under the lead of

Rutger Hauer Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor, with a career that spanned over 170 roles across nearly 50 years, beginning in 1969. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century. H ...

's character. For the role she took horse riding lessons under the guidance of Oeg van den Berg.

Filmography

References

External links

* 1937 births 2017 deaths Dutch film actresses People from Nijmegen Actresses from Gelderland Burials at Zorgvlied Cemetery {{Netherlands-actor-stub