Swiebertje is a character from the books of Dutch author John Henri uit den Bogaard, who wrote a series of children's books based on the character from 1936 to 1974. The books were adapted for television (

Joop Doderer Johan Heinrich (Joop) Doderer (28 August 1921 – 22 September 2005) was a Dutch actor, well known for his role as the tramp Swiebertje in the eponymous television series. The series ran for 17 seasons between 1955 and 1975, and was broadcast by ...

playing the title role), in a series of shows which aired on

NCRV NCRV (Nederlandse Christelijke Radio Vereniging) (English: Dutch Christian Radio Association) was a Netherlands Public Broadcasting, public radio and television broadcaster in the Netherlands, mostly transmitting on NPO 1 and NPO 2. On 1 January ...

in the 1960s and 1970s, one of the longest-running and most popular shows in Dutch TV history.

Character and adventures

The character Swiebertje is a tramp, and is supposed to be inspired by a drawing by

Tjeerd Bottema Tjeerd (Tsjeard) Bottema (6 February 1884 in Langezwaag – 8 March 1978 in Katwijk) was a Dutch painter, illustrator and book cover designer. Biography Bottema was a student at Kunstnijverheidsschool Quellinus and the Rijksakademie van ...

. He is a "lovable vagabond", and his character as well as the TV show "present a comforting image of a simple rural past". His wanderings, during which he typically got in trouble but always found a happy ending, evoked romanticism and adventure. The "innocent" show was the second-most popular show among Dutch children in 1966; the most popular was the more adult program ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on ...

''. Regular characters included, besides Swiebertje, the police officer Bromsnor ( Lou Geels), housekeeper Saartje (

Riek Schagen Geertruida Hendrika (Riek) Schagen (15 November 1913 – 14 July 2008) was a Dutch stage, television and film actress well known for her role as housekeeper Saartje in the children's television series ''Swiebertje''. Schagen was also an artist, ...

), and shopkeeper Malle Pietje ( Piet Ekel).

Joop Doderer

On TV, he was played by

, who became so identified with the part that the Dutch expression for the most extreme form of

typecasting In film, television, and theatre, typecasting is the process by which a particular actor becomes strongly identified with a specific character, one or more particular roles, or characters having the same traits or coming from the same social or ...

, where an actor is identified with just one single character, is called the ''Swiebertje-effect''.

Oudewater Oudewater () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands. History The origin of the town of Oudewater is obscure and no information has been found concerning the first settlement of citizens. It is also difficult to recover the name of Oud ...

has a Swiebertje statue. Doderer played Swiebertje for seventeen years and grew to dislike the character. After the show had run its course, in 1975, he was unable to find serious roles because he was so much identified with Swiebertje; he left for England, where playing roles in high-quality television drama proved a relief. He returned to the Netherlands, and to the stage, and later made peace with the character, saying that Swiebertje derived its popularity from his

everyman The everyman is a stock character of fiction. An ordinary and humble character, the everyman is generally a protagonist whose benign conduct fosters the audience's identification with them. Origin The term ''everyman'' was used as early as ...

-qualities.

Adaptations

The TV series was adapted into a comic strip by Gerrit Stapel.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0125647 Literary characters introduced in 1936 1950s in Dutch television 1955 Dutch television series debuts 1975 Dutch television series endings Dutch children's television series Television characters Fictional Dutch people Male characters in literature Male characters in television Dutch-language television shows Fictional hoboes Television shows based on Dutch novels Television shows set in the Netherlands Black-and-white Dutch television shows Television shows adapted into comics