Leendert (Leen) Jongewaard (Amsterdam, 30 March 1927 – Nice, 4 June 1996) was a Dutch actor and singer who was best known for his performance in the television series.
Partner Barrie Stevens
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Amsterdam, Amsterdam Municipality, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Leendert (Leen) Jongewaard (Amsterdam, 30 March 1927 – Nice, 4 June 1996) was a Dutch actor and singer who was best known for his performance in the television series.
Leen Jongewaard was born on 30 March 1927 in the Rozenstraat in Amsterdam as the youngest in a family of eight boys and a girl. His father was a fishmonger and chief officer inthe Salvation Army. [1] At the beginning of the Second World War his mother died, after which Jongewaard ended up in the Hague Reformed orphanage in The Hague, where his eldest brother (Cornelis) worked. In 1942 he returned to his father. His older brothers were in Germany. He attended the Graphic School and had a boyfriend there with whom he went to the cinema and sometimes the theatre a lot. In 1947 Jongewaard and his friend saw a performance by Wim Kan, who was still completely unknown to him, in the Leidsepleintheater and was very impressed by it. He founded the amateur cabaret De Kijkdoos. A girl named Adèle Hameetman (later named Adèle Bloemendaal) also participated in this. He would work with her more often in later years. At that time he also worked as a waiter, youth worker, bookbinder and had various jobs in factories. In the early 1950s he was discovered by the management of the theatre group Puck (by Egbert van Paridon) and in 1953 he made his debut as a professional actor there. Puck (later called Centrum) brought dozens of pieces to the shelves. Jongewaard would remain associated with the group for eleven years. He made his television debut in February 1959 in the children's program Tinkeltje, written and directed by Mies Bouhuys. The series was broadcast every Wednesday afternoon and was about Mr. King (Piet Römer) who experienced all kinds of adventures with his ship 'De Krikkemikke'. Jongewaard played in this series, among others, the Eskimo, agent De Reus and the role of Lo Flodder. On November 28, 1959, a new four-weekly children's series by Mies Bouhuys started, called The Man in the Attic. In this, Jongewaard was the only actor who, looking from his attic window, told the children about his experiences. Both series suddenly stopped in May 1960 when Mies Bouhuys left the AVRO. On April 20, 1961, the VPRO broadcasted the TV game Mijn hart is in het Hoogland (a TV adaptation of a story by the American writer William Saroyan). Jongewaard had the small role of newspaper deliverer, but was praised for his good acting. From 1959 to 1962 he also worked on radio cabaret Minerva VI - De Wilde Vaart. This was a popular radio cabaret by Jelle de Vries, in which, in addition to Jongewaard, Enny Mols-de Leeuwe, Conny Stuart, Herbert Joeks, Andrea Domburg, Christel Adelaar, Guus Verstraete, Coen Flink and Dick Doorn also participated. Jongewaard had the role of sailor in this cabaret and sang Jordanian songs. From 1961 to May 1964 he played the leading role in the popular youth series Flip the Sorcerer's Apprentice by Bob Verstraete. As a result, Jongewaard became known to the general public and was identified with the role. In 1963 he was asked by Wim Ibo to sing a cabaret song (Huisproblemen) in Ibo's new program Mens durf te leven. Ibo had seen him sing in 1962 in Mensen, hee mensen, a musical by Walter Kous and Mies Bouhuys. By singing the cabaret song, the TV audience came into contact with a relatively unknown talent of Jongewaard. In the autumn of 1964 Jongewaard left theater group Centrum and joined cabaret Lurelei, in which Eric Herfst, Jasperina de Jong and Sylvia de Leur performed. After all these years, he wanted to make the switch to cabaret. In the Lurelei program "Wij Lurelei - an unsavory bestseller" he had a solo song (The Modern Repertoire). Another well-known song from the program was Botanical argument, which he performed together with Sylvia de Leur. When he had just started at Lurelei, however, Jongewaard was offered to play in the autumn of 1965 in the musical Heerlijk duurt het langt by Annie M.G. Schmidt. Conny Stuart, who would play the leading role and still knew Jongewaard from radio cabaret de Wilde Vaart, had recommended him. After one season at Lurelei he left again. Subsequently, in Heerlijk duurt het langt, he successfully fulfilled the role of grocer Kees Bloem. A well-known song of his from this musical is Kom Kees. Delicious lasts the longestran until the end of April 1967, but during the tour of the musical Annie M.G. Schmidt already wrote a new comedy series: Yes sister, no sister with Hetty Blok in the role of sister Klivia and Jongewaard in the famous double role of burglar Gerrit and his grandfather. The series came on the screen from September 1966. Blok and Jongewaard were the only soloists in this program who could really sing. Well-known songs from this, in which he participated, were My grandfather, In a carriage (with Wim Sonneveld), Duifies, The old Jacob and I get it again. The series would run for two years. He also sang songs together with Hetty Blok for radio commercials for the cigarette brand Golden Fiction during this period. During this time Jongewaard also returned to theater group Centrum and played in the television series Jozefien. He won the 1967 Golden Televizierring for TV Personality of the Year.
In the autumn of 1969, the musical De Kleine Parade premiered - an adaptation of the book of the same name by Henriëtte van Eyk made by Wim Sonneveld. Jongewaard played the role of Hein, the silver man and the role of Tom Ankerblom. To fill the period until the start of this musical, Jongewaard toured early 1969 with the Leen Jongewaard Show (subtitle: Leen al-leen). Jongewaard sang entertainment songs and had as guest artists Jerry Rix, Rob van Houten and magician Fred Kaps. It was not a great success; many still saw him as Grandpa from Yes sister, no sister and another part of the audience was expecting real cabaret. After less than three months, Jongewaard stopped the show. In October 1969, a musical TV series about a Jordanian neighborhood café started: 't Schaep met de 5 pooten. Jongewaard played the role of bartender Lucas Blijdschap. The other two leading roles were for Adèle Bloemendaal and Piet Römer. The series had a great success with the public but stopped after eight episodes, partly due to problems behind the scenes between writer and producer. Well-known classics were We benne on the world to help each other, right?, If you can't trust each other anymore and It will be your child. Jongewaard still played in De Kleine Parade and in 1971 made the cabaret program Kijkaarna with Adèle Bloemendaal. At the end of 1971, a new TV series by Eli Asser appeared on the screen: Lemon with sugar. The series consciously breathed the atmosphere ofthe Schaep met de 5 pooten and Jongewaard again played a leading role, together with Lex Goudsmit and Piet Römer (Adèle Bloemendaal was missing at first). The series was less successful than its predecessor. In this period Jongewaard also played a small role in the well-known youth series Can you tell me the way to Hamelin, sir?. In the mid-1970s Jongewaard was also seen in films and he worked on The Angel of Amsterdam, a musical on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of Amsterdam starring Jasperina de Jong.
In the late 1970s Jongewaard participated in a series of all kinds of smaller TV shows, plays and youth films. In 1978 he met the singer Robert Long during the rehearsals for the musical Swingpop (by Seth Gaaikema). Jongewaard had been touched by Songs by Long for a number of years and when the opportunity arose to be in a production together, Jongewaard seized it. They soon clicked with each other. Swingpop was not a success, but Long already had plans for a theater show and asked Jongewaard to work with him on this. In the fall of 1979, Clear went like this? premiered. In this program they dealt with numerous topics that were close to their hearts, such as homosexuality, faith and social abuses. In the seasons 1981-1982 and 1983-1984 Jongewaard and Long brought two more theater shows, So far (has the Lord helped us) and And it was still restless in the city for a long time. The last show did not go particularly well and both wanted to go in a different direction after this. Jongewaard had already had small roles in some Dutch feature films and would be in a musical again at the end of 1984: Pingping by Annie M.G. Schmidt. Jongewaard had been suffering from all kinds of physical and psychological complaints for a while and a few months after the premiere he became overwrought. He was forced to give up the role in the musical. After almost two years of rest, he worked on the film adaptation of the novel Op hoop van zegen by Herman Heijermans and then stood on stage with Mary Dresselhuys, among others, in 1987 with the play A particularly pleasant vista. Also during this piece he had to drop out halfway due to illness. At the beginning of 1988 he was hospitalized because of a heart attack. In the years that followed, Jongewaard occasionally returned with (side) roles in films or TV series, but otherwise he remained in the lee.
Leen Jongewaard died of a heart attack on 4 June 1996 during his holiday in France. He was buried at Zorgvlied. Leen Jongewaard was Barrie Stevens' life partner for many years. They had known each other since the collaboration in the musical Heerlijk duurt het langtin the 1960s. In the musical Robert Long that premiered in December 2015, the role of Leen Jongewaard was played by Jeremy Baker.
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