Urbain Servranckx (born 7 June 1949), better known as Urbanus, is a Belgian comedian, actor, singer and

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

writer. Although he is most famous as comedian, some of his songs became hits, such as ''Bakske vol met stro'' (1979), ''Madammen met een bontjas'' (1980) and ''Hittentit'' (1982). He is one of the most popular and famous entertainers in Flanders and the Netherlands.

Career

Urbanus, artist's name of Urbain Joseph Servranckx (

Dilbeek Dilbeek () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant, in the Flemish region of Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Dilbeek proper, Groot-Bijgaarden, Itterbeek (with Sint-A ...

, 7 June 1949) is a Belgian comedian, singer, guitarist, author of comic books and actor. Originally he used the artist name: Urbanus van Anus. Anus was the name of his former backing group. In 1973 he began performing

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

and comedy. He became popular in Flanders and managed to duplicate his success in the Netherlands, building a steady career since. He has appeared in TV shows, some which he wrote himself. Urbanus released several musical singles, some of which entered the hit parade. Urbain went solo in 1974 under the name Urbanus van Anus. After the then BRT (Belgian Radio and Television) asked him for a comic act, he dropped the name "van Anus" and since then it has been simply Urbanus. The first cover of Urbanus live was also drawn by Daniël Geirnaert. His

Christmas song Christmas music comprises a variety of Music genre, genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas and holiday season, Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of Christmas ...

''Bakske Vol Met Stro'' (1979) was controversial for lampooning the biblical story of the birth of Jesus, but also became his

signature song A signature (; from , "to sign") is a depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Signatures are often, but not always, handwritten or styliz ...

and best-selling record for the very same reasons. Urbanus considers himself an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, although he wed in the Roman Catholic Church and had his children baptized. In 2008, he was awarded the Prize for Liberty by the Flemish think tank Nova Civitas.

Film career

Urbanus starred in three films: ''

Hector In Greek mythology, Hector (; , ) was a Trojan prince, a hero and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. He is a major character in Homer's ''Iliad'', where he leads the Trojans and their allies in the defense of Troy, killing c ...

'' (1987), ''

Koko Flanel ''Koko Flanel'' is a Belgium, Belgian comedy movie directed by Stijn Coninx starring Urbanus, Bea Van der Maat, Willeke van Ammelrooy, and Ann Petersen. The movie was released in 1990 and was until 18 February 2009 the most successful Flanders, ...

'' (1990) and '' Seventh Heaven (1993)''. The two first films were the leaders in the Flemish box offices for many years. His first movie, ''Hector'', directed by

Stijn Coninx Stijn, Baron Coninx (born 21 February 1957) is a Belgian film director. Career He studied film directing at HRITCS (currently Ritcs, at Erasmus Hogeschool Brussel). Conicx made his debut as film director in 1987 with the comedy ''Hector (1987 ...

, won the 1988 international comedy film festival in

Chamrousse Chamrousse () is a ski resort in Southeastern France, in the Belledonne mountain range near Grenoble in the Isère department. It is located in a commune of the same name and is situated on the Recoin at and the Roche Béranger at . The ski ...

, France. He also was named best actor by

Radio France Radio France () is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: *France Inter — Radio France's "generalist media, generalist" station, featuring entertaining and informative talk mixed wi ...

and Dauphiné Libéré. ''Seventh Heaven'' was a

box office bomb A box-office bomb is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the combined production budget, marketing, and distribution costs exceed the revenue after release has te ...

. In

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

and 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 ...

Urbanus is well-known and very popular since 1974. Although he is most famous as a comedian, some of his songs became hits, such as ''Bakske vol met stro'' (1979), ''Madammen met een bontjas'' (1980) and ''Hittentit'' (1982). Urbanus lent his voice to the

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

versions of the

Pixar Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney ...

movies, ''

Cars A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

'' and ''

Cars 2 ''Cars 2'' is a 2011 American animated spy comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the sequel to '' Cars'' (2006), the second film in the ''Cars'' franchise, and the 12th animated film from the studio ...

'', where he was the voice of the character Mater.

Comics career

Luc Cauwenberghs - Urbanus - Stripstandbeelden Middelkerke 21-4-2018 11-51-54

Urbanus is script writer of a comics series about a childlike version of himself, '' Urbanus'', which debuted in 1982. The series is drawn by

Willy Linthout Willy Linthout (born 1 May 1953) is a Belgian comics author, best known for the ''Urbanus (comic strip), Urbanus'' comics and his graphic novel ''Years of the Elephant''. Biography Willy Linthout was born in Eksaarde near Lokeren, Belgium in 19 ...

and from the third story on, Urbanus started providing the scenarios. The comic strip managed to become the longest-running series in the celebrity-inspired genre and new albums are still published to this day. The comics also sell well in the

. In 2022, after 40 years and 201 albums, it was decided to stop the comic series. Urbanus also writes the gags for the satirical comic ''De Geverniste Vernepelingskes'' (1998), which pokes fun at several Flemish celebrities. It was first drawn by Jan Bosschaert, then Dirk Stallaert and finally Steven Dupré. Urbanus also writes gags for the children's comics ''Plankgas en Plastronneke'' (2004–2008) and ''Mieleke Melleke Mol'' (since 2003), both drawn by Dirk Stallaert. Urbanus has also drawn some gag comics himself. He also illustrated many of his own album covers.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Films

Urbanus produced and appeared in several movies: *''

'' (1988) *''

'' (1990) *''Les Sept péchés capitaux'' (1992) *'' De Zevende Hemel'' (1993) *''Max'' (1994) *' (2004) *'' K3 en het IJsprinsesje'' (2007) Urbanus did voices for the following movies: *''

March of the Penguins ''March of the Penguins'' ( French ''La Marche de l'empereur''; ) is a 2005 French feature-length nature documentary directed and co-written by Luc Jacquet, and co-produced by Bonne Pioche and the National Geographic Society. The documentary d ...

'' (2005) – narration for the Dutch version *''

'' (2006) – voice of Mater for the Flemish version

References

External links

*
Lambiek Comiclopedia article about his entire life and career
{{Authority control (arts) 1949 births Living people 20th-century Flemish male actors 21st-century Flemish male actors 20th-century Belgian male singers 20th-century Belgian singers 21st-century Belgian male singers 21st-century Belgian singers Belgian atheists Belgian stand-up comedians Belgian comedy musicians Belgian pop singers Belgian rock singers Belgian singer-songwriters Belgian male guitarists Belgian satirists Belgian satirical musicians Belgian surrealist artists Belgian comics writers Belgian satirical comics writers Belgian comics artists Belgian critics of Christianity Critics of the Catholic Church Belgian album-cover and concert-poster artists Flemish male film actors Flemish male voice actors Flemish television writers People from Dilbeek Dutch-language singers of Belgium Surreal comedy Belgian television show creators Belgian male television writers Religious controversies in music Religious controversies in Belgium Obscenity controversies in music Television controversies in Belgium