Willeke van Ammelrooy

Willeke van Ammelrooy
Willeke van Ammelrooy in 1973
Born	(1944-04-05) 5 April 1944 (age 72) Amsterdam, Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch

Willy Geertje van Ammelrooij (born 5 April 1944), known as Willeke van Ammelrooy, is a Dutch actress and director.

Willeke van Ammelrooy was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands. She attended drama school in Amsterdam.

Van Ammelrooy has acted on stage as well as in films. She participated in 27 movies. Her first film was Mira in 1971.

She later starred in the award-winning feminist film Antonia's Line, which tells the story of an independent woman who, after returning to the anonymous Dutch village of her birth, establishes and nurtures a close-knit matriarchal community.

She received positive reviews and the Golden Calf for Best Actress for her performance and the film enjoyed critical success, including the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 68th Academy Awards. Emanuel Levy, writing for The Advocate, wrote "It's easy to see why" the film was winning awards in festivals, calling it "an enchanting fairy tale that maintains a consistently warm, lighthearted feel," and Willeke van Ammelrooy wonderful.Janet Maslin of The New York Times called it "a work of magical feminism." The film also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the People's Choice Award.

According to Box Office Mojo, the film completed its run grossing $4,228,275 in North America, 1,660,901 admissions in the European Union, and $21,046 in South Korea.