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 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 public radio and television broadcaster in the Netherlands, mostly transmitting on NPO 1 and NPO 2. On 1 January 2014, NCRV merged with KRO to f ...

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 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 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), and shopkeeper Malle Pietje ( Piet Ekel). The vagabond 'Swiebertje' as well as the old-fashioned constable 'Bromsnor' and

rag-and-bone man A rag-and-bone man or ragpicker (UK English) or ragman, old-clothesman, junkman, or junk dealer (US English), also called a bone-grubber, bone-picker, chiffonnier, rag-gatherer, rag-picker, bag board, or totter, collects unwanted household items ...

'Malle Pietje' have grown to become household

eponym An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

s in the Dutch language.

Joop Doderer

On TV, he was played by Joop Doderer, 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 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 and history The term ''everyman'' was used ...

-qualities.

Adaptations

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

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, qid=Q71830265, id=tt0125647 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