Rudi Carrell (born Rudolf Wijbrand Kesselaar; 19 December 1934 – 7 July 2006) was a Dutch entertainer. Along with famous entertainers such as

Johannes Heesters Johan Marius Nicolaas Heesters (5 December 1903 – 24 December 2011), known professionally as Johannes Heesters, was a Dutch-German actor of stage, television and film, as well as a vocalist of numerous recordings and performer on the conce ...

and

Linda de Mol Linda Margaretha de Mol (born 8 July 1964) is a Dutch television presenter and actress in the Netherlands and Germany. She is the sister of TV-producer and Endemol co-founder John de Mol, and has frequently appeared in productions of his. She ...

, he was one of the most successful Dutch personalities active in Germany. He worked as a television entertainer and hosted his own show; the ''Rudi Carrell Show'' ran first in the Netherlands, and then for many years in Germany. As a singer he had a number of hits, including a Dutch version of "

A Windmill in Old Amsterdam "A Windmill In Old Amsterdam" is a 1965 novelty song written by Ted Dicks and Myles Rudge. The song, about a mouse that wears clogs, and arranged in waltz time, was notably recorded by Ronnie Hilton in 1965 and issued on the His Master's Voice ...

", and acted in several movies. He also recorded several songs in German.

''Eurovision Song Contest''

Carrell represented the Netherlands at the

Eurovision Song Contest 1960 The Eurovision Song Contest 1960 was the fifth edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on Tuesday 29 March 1960 at the Royal Festival Hall in London, United Kingdom, and hosted by British television presenter and actress Catherine Boyle. ...

with the song "

Wat een geluk The Netherlands was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1960 with the song "", composed by Dick Schallies, with lyrics by Willy van Hemert, and performed by Rudi Carrell. The Dutch participating Broadcaster, (NTS), selected its entry thr ...

" ("What luck"). He finished 12th out of 13, scoring just two points.

''Rudi Carrell Show''

The ''Rudi Carrell Show'' and its successors were a huge success in Germany from the 1960s to the 1990s. The show included a similar concept to ''Star Search'' or ''Pop Idol'' and brought many well-known German pop stars and actors to prominence, such as

Alexis Alexis may refer to: People Mononym * Alexis (poet) ( – ), a Greek comic poet * Alexis (sculptor), an ancient Greek artist who lived around the 3rd or 4th century BC * Alexis (singer) (born 1968), German pop singer * Alexis (comics) (1946– ...

and Mark Keller. It also featured comedy sketches. His show was also popular in some non-German-speaking European countries, such as Slovenia and Croatia. During this time he also hosted other popular shows, including ''Am laufenden Band'', ''Rudis Tagesshow'', ''Herzblatt'', ''Die verflixte 7'', and ''

7 Tage, 7 Köpfe 7 Tage, 7 Köpfe (''Sieben Tage, sieben Köpfe'', lit. ''Seven days, seven heads'') is a German comedy television program of the television station RTL Television and featured a humorous retrospective of the past week. The show was hosted by Joc ...

''.

Controversial humor

In 1987, Carrell caused a diplomatic rift between Germany and Iran with a sketch in which veiled women threw their undergarments at someone dressed like Iran's Supreme Leader

Ayatollah Khomeini Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (17 May 1900 or 24 September 19023 June 1989) was an Iranian revolutionary, politician, political theorist, and religious leader. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the main leader of the Iranian ...

. The Iranian government responded by expelling two German diplomats and permanently closing the

Goethe Institute The Goethe-Institut (; GI, ''Goethe Institute'') is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit German culture, cultural organization operational worldwide with more than 150 cultural centres, promoting the study of the German language abroad and en ...

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

.Rudi Carrell
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 3 August 2006

Death

In an interview in November 2005, Carrell confirmed to the magazine ''

Bunte ''Bunte'' (company's preferred spelling in capital letters) is a German-language weekly celebrity gossip magazine published by Hubert Burda Media. The first edition was published in 1948 under the name ''Das Ufer''. Under the leadership of Hub ...

'' that he was suffering from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

. He died on 7 July 2006 in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

, Germany, aged 71.

Literature

* * *

References

External links

*
a German online book of condolence for Rudi Carell

Find-a-Grave entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carrell, Rudi 1934 births 2006 deaths 20th-century Dutch male singers Dutch male comedians Dutch male film actors Dutch game show hosts Dutch expatriates in Germany Deaths from lung cancer in Germany People from Alkmaar Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 20th-century Dutch comedians Controversies in the Netherlands Controversies in Iran Television controversies in Germany Political controversies in television Religious controversies in television ARD (broadcaster) people RTL Group people Radio Bremen people German-language singers of the Netherlands Eurovision Song Contest entrants Dutch television show creators