- Rudi Carrell
Rudi Carrell (
December 19 ,1934 inAlkmaar ,Netherlands —July 7 ,2006 in Bremen,Germany ), born Rudolf Wijbrand Kesselaar, was a Dutch entertainer.He worked as a
television entertainer and hosted his own show. The "Rudi Carrell Show" ran first in theNetherlands , then inGermany for many years.Carrell was also a singer with a number of hits, and acted in several movies.
Eurovision Song Contest
He represented the
Netherlands at theEurovision Song Contest 1960 singing " [http://www.diggiloo.net/?1960nl Wat een geluk] " (What luck). He finished 12th out of 13 scoring just 2 points.Rudi Carrell Show
His own show "The Rudi Carrell Show" was 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 or Mark Keller. It also featured comedy sketches.
His show was also pretty popular in some other European non-german speaking countries like
Slovenia where his reunions between long lost friends or relatives became part of popular culture.In between he hosted other popular shows, including "Am laufenden Band", "Rudis Tagesshow", "Herzblatt" and "7 Tage 7 Köpfe".
Controversial humor
In 1987, he famously 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 LeaderAyatollah Khomeini . The outraged Iranian government responded by expelling two German diplomats and closing theGoethe Institute inTehran .Another controversial sketch used clever editing to show the then Chancellor
Helmut Kohl and other prominent German politicians apparently consorting with prostitutes.Death
In an interview in November 2005 the entertainer confirmed to the magazine "
Bunte ", that he was suffering fromlung cancer . He died onJuly 7 ,2006 , aged 71.Literature
* Rudi Carrell, Gib mir mein Fahrrad wieder, Wenen/München/Zürich/Innsbruck 1979.
* Ingo Schiweck (Red.), "Laß dich überraschen ..." Niederländische Unterhaltungskünstler in Deutschland nach 1945, Münster 2005.
* Susanne Schult, Rudi Carrell. Das Image eines Stars in der Geschichte des deutschen Fernsehens, Osnabrück 2000.ee also
*
German television comedy External links
*imdb_name|id=0140167|name=Rudi Carrell
* [http://www.trauer-beileid.de/kondolenzbuch/184-Showmaster-Rudi-Carrell-aus-Bremen.htm a German online book of condolence for Rudi Carell]Persondata
NAME=Carrell, Rudi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Kesselaar, Rudolf Wijbrand
SHORT DESCRIPTION=entertainer on Dutch and German televion
DATE OF BIRTH=December 19 ,1934
PLACE OF BIRTH=Alkmaar , Netherlands
DATE OF DEATH=July 7 ,2006
PLACE OF DEATH=Bremen, Germany
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