Rudi Carrell
| Rudi Carrell | |
|---|---|
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Carrell in 1980
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|
| Born |
Rudolf Wijbrand Kesselaar 19 December 1934 Alkmaar |
| Died | 7 July 2006 (aged 71) Bremen |
| Occupation | Entertainer |
Rudi Carrell (19 December 1934 – 7 July 2006), born Rudolf Wijbrand Kesselaar, was a Dutch entertainer, born in Alkmaar. Along with famous entertainers such as Johannes Heesters and Linda de Mol, Carrell 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, then in Germany for many years. Carrell was also a singer with a number of hits, and acted in several movies.
He represented the Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest 1960 singing "Wat een geluk" (What luck). He finished 12th out of 13 scoring just 2 points. Carrell provided the Dutch radio commentary for the 1987 Contest.
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.
In between he hosted other popular shows, including "Am laufenden Band", "Rudis Tagesshow", "Herzblatt", "Die verflixte Sieben" and "7 Tage, 7 Köpfe".
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 Leader Ayatollah Khomeini. The Iranian government responded by expelling two German diplomats and permanently closing the Goethe Institute in Tehran.
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Wikipedia