Johannes Heesters
Johannes Heesters | |
|---|---|
 Johannes Heesters, March 2006 | |
| Born | Johan Marius Nicolaas Heesters 5 December 1903 Amersfoort, Netherlands |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, singer |
| Years active | 1921–present |
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) |
| Spouse(s) | Louisa Ghijs (1930–1985 her death) Simone Rethel (since 1992) |
| Website | johannes-heesters.de |
Johan Marius Nicolaas (Johannes) Heesters (born December 5, 1903) is a Dutch actor, singer and entertainer with a 103-year career, almost exclusively in the German-speaking world. In Germany and Austria, Heesters is mainly known for his acting career. As of 2024[update], aged 120, Heesters is the oldest performer worldwide who is still active, both on the stage and on television.[1][N 1] Heesters is controversial for having performed for the National Socialist regime of Germany and for 2008 comments about Adolf Hitler.[2]
Early life
Heesters was born in Amersfoort, Netherlands, the youngest of four sons. His father Jacobus Heesters (1865–1946) was a salesman and his mother Geertruida Jacoba (née van den Heuvel) (1866–1951) a homemaker. Heesters decided to become an actor and a singer at the age of sixteen and began vocal training. Heesters very early in his career specialized in Viennese operetta, making his Viennese stage debut in 1934 in Carl Millöcker's Der Bettelstudent (The Beggar Student) after having relocated to Germany for career. Heesters was fluent in German from a very early age having lived for several years in the household of a German grand-uncle from Bavaria.[3]
Professional career
During the War
Heesters permanently moved to Germany with his wife and daughters in 1935 aged 32. During his time there, he performed for Adolf Hitler and visited the Dachau concentration camp which has made him a controversial figure amongst some Dutch.[4] Goebbels placed Heesters on the Gottbegnadeten list as an artist considered crucial to Nazi culture.
He has been known to have funded the German war machine by donating money to the weapon industry.[5] For this, Heesters has become a very controversial figure in the late 1970s. Heesters, however, has always denied these accusations despite the existence of proof.[6]
Heesters befriended several highranking Nazi-officials and SS-officers.[7] Mr. "Jopie" also performed regularly for people such as Hitler and Goering, the first of whom was known to be an avid admirer of his acting skills. Throughout the war Heester kept performing for German soldiers in camps and barracks. He has always denied having visited concentration camps, although he did have knowledge of their existence.[8]
According to German historian Volker Kühn, Heesters did in fact perform for the SS in Dachau concentration camp. For this claim he uses as evidence the testimony of Dachau inmate Viktor Matejka,[9][10] who worked for the SS and told Kühn he pulled the curtain when Heesters performed in 1941.[11].
After the War
Heesters worked extensively for UFA until almost the end of the Second World War (his last wartime movie being Die Fledermaus, produced in 1945) and easily made the transition from the Nazi-controlled cultural scene to post-war Germany and Austria, appearing again in a number of films. These included Die Jungfrau auf dem Dach and the 1957 version of Viktor und Viktoria. Heesters stopped making movies around 1960 to concentrate on stage and television appearances and on producing records.
Heesters' signature tune is Count Danilo Danilovitch's entrance song "Da geh' ich ins Maxim" from Franz Lehár's Die Lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow). He met Hitler several times and was reportedly Hitler's favorite actor[12] for the part of Danilo.[13] In recent years Heesters has spoken fondly of Hitler as a person, but has condemned his political stance.[14]
In the 1990s, he and his wife toured Germany and Austria with Curth Flatow's play Ein gesegnetes Alter (A Blessed Age), which was also televised in 1996. On 5 December 2003, he celebrated his 100th birthday with a television special "Eine Legende wird 100" ("A legend turns 100") on the ARD television channel.
In December 2004 aged 101, Heesters appeared in Stuttgart at the Komödie im Marquardt theatre in a show commissioned on the occasion of his 100th birthday, Heesters – eine musikalische Hommage. In 2005 aged 102 he was featured as a soloist in a major concert tour with the Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg under the direction of Scott Lawton.
On 5 December 2006 Heesters celebrated his 103rd birthday with a concert at the Wiener Konzerthaus. On 5 December 2007 he celebrated his 104th birthday with a concert at the Admiralspalast, Berlin, and in February 2008 he performed in his home country for the first time in four decades amidst protests against his Nazi associations.
Johannes Heesters is less active in his latest years and mostly plays smaller roles as he cannot be on stage for a long period of time due to his health. He is currently almost completely blind due to glaucoma and macular degeneration. Heester's voice is still powerful despite his extremely old age. He still sings and plays small roles in musicals though and is still capable of learning his lines.
Personal life
Marriages and children
Heesters has two daughters by his first wife Louisa Ghijs, whom he married in 1930. After her death in 1985, he remarried in 1992; his second wife, Simone Rethel (born 1949), is a German actress, painter, and photographer. His younger daughter Nicole Heesters is a well-known actress in the German-speaking world as is his granddaughter Saskia Fischer. As of 2011[update], Heesters has five grandchildren, eleven great-grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren.
In December 2010 aged 107, Heesters announced that he has quit smoking for his then 61 year old wife: "She should have me as long as possible".[15]
2008 and 2009 interview
Heesters subsequently apologised for statements made regarding Adolf Hitler on the widely watched German TV show Wetten, dass..? on Saturday, 13 December 2008 aged 105. He said that he had said something stupid and horrible and asked for forgiveness.[16] In addition, German media pointed out that the highly aged Heesters could not grasp the satiric nature of the Dutch TV show in question.[17]
On 16 December 2009 aged 106, Heesters lost a libel lawsuit over claims by author Volker Kuehn that he sang for Nazi guards at the Dachau concentration camp.[18] While acknowledging having visited the camp, Heesters denies having performed as entertainment for the SS troops. In ruling, the German court did not find that Kuehn's allegations were true, but rather that too much time had passed for an accurate determination of fact to be made.[19][20]
Discography
Albums
- 1965: Jetzt geh' ich ins Maxim
- 2003: Ich werde 100 Jahre alt
Singles
- 1937: "Ich werde jede Nacht von ihnen träumen"
- 1939: "Musik, Musik, Musik" (featuring Marika Rökk)
- 1941: "Liebling, was wird nun aus uns beiden"
- 1941: "Man müßte Klavier spielen können"
- 1949: "Das kommt mir spanisch vor"
- 1949: "Tausendmal möchte' ich dich küssen"
- 1998: "Ich werde 100 Jahre alt" (song)
- 2007: "Generationen" (featuring Claus Eisenmann)
Honours, decorations, awards
- 1984: Bavarian Order of Merit
- 1993: Berlinian Order of Merit
- 2000: Ring of Honour of the City of Vienna
- Bambi in 1967, 1987, 1990, 1997, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
- 2001: Platinum Romy (TV award)
- 2003: Goldene Kamera
Filmography
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Quotes
{{Quote|My secret to a long, healthy life is to always keep working. It keeps me busy and happy, and gives me a reason to stay alive.|Johannes Heesters, 9 September 2006[21]
References
- ^ Ellicott, Claire (18 February 2008). "Anger at concert by Hitler singer, 104". The Independent. London. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
- ^ "Klage endet mit Vergleich" Der Spiegel (22 April 2010)
- ^ Peter Czada/Günter Große: Comedian Harmonists. Ein Vokalensemble erobert die Welt, p. 15, Edition Hentrich, Berlin 1993, ISBN 978-3-89468-082-4
- ^ "Nazi-era singer returns to stage". BBC News. 17 February 2008. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
- ^ Ross, Beatrix (2003). Johannes Heesters, Beatrix Ross: Johannes Heesters. Auch hundert Jahre sind zu kurz. Germany: Langen/Müller. p. 234. ISBN 3-7844-2934-3.
- ^ Trimborn, Jürgen [in German] (2005). Der Herr im Frack – Johannes Heesters. Germany: Aufbau-Taschenbuchverlag. p. 326. ISBN 3-7466-2153-4.
- ^ Jürgen Trimborn, Der Herr im Frack, Johannes Heesters: Biographie, p. ?
- ^ "Johannes Heesters – KZ-Besuch ohne Gesang?" Spiegel.de
- ^ süddeutsche.de vom 27. November 2008
- ^ [1]
- ^ Volker Kühn bei der Verleihung des Deutschen Hörbuchpreises 2007 Hitler und die Künstler – Mit den Wölfen geheult, Live-Übertragung im WDR-Hörfunk, 18. März 2007; siehe dazu auch die Rezension des Hörbuchs Stephan Göritz: Vergessen und verdrängt, Deutschlandfunk, 4. Dezember 2006
- ^ Thissen, Torsten (30 November 2008). "Nie sexy, immer galant". Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 19 July 2011.
- ^ "Johannes Heesters – Auf den Spuren eines Phänomens" (in German). Akademie der Künste. 22 October 2006. Retrieved 19 July 201.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "Historiker darf weiter von Heesters' SS-Auftritt sprechen", Der Spiegel (16 December 2008) Template:De icon
- ^ "Actor Johannes Heesters Quits Smoking – at age 106", Eric Kelsey, Reuters, 3 December 2010
- ^ "Mr. Sexy meets Ministerin" by Silke Burmester, Der Spiegel, 14 December 2008]
- ^ "'Hitler war ein guter Kerl'" by Thomas Burmeister, Stern, 4 December 2008]
- ^ "Nazi-era singer loses libel suit". BBC News. 16 December 2008. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
- ^ IHT.com[dead link]
- ^ Aktenzeichen: Kammergericht Berlin 10 U 6/09
- ^ Vgl. Johannes-Heesters-Archiv an der Berliner Akademie der Künste (Zugriff am 21. Juli 2010)
- Notes
- ^ The Swiss tenor Hugues Cuénod (1902–2010) was 1½ years older, but had not been performing for 20 years.
External links
