Abraham "Appie" Bueno de Mesquita (July 23, 1918 in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

– August 19, 2005 in

Lelystad Lelystad () is a municipality and a city in the centre of the Netherlands, and it is the capital of the province of Flevoland. The city, built on reclaimed land, was founded in 1967 and was named after Cornelis Lely, who engineered the Afsluitdi ...

) was a Dutch

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

and stage artist, well known for his ability to make funny faces. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Bueno de Mesquita was imprisoned in the Dossin Barracks in

Mechelen Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

on account of being

Sephardi Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

ish, and was scheduled to be deported to

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

. However, the camp commander was looking for musicians. His ability to play a one string cello combined with his mimical talents saved his life. Bueno de Mesquita was one of the first television artists, starring on-screen as early as 1952, Bueno de Mesquita appeared on television as a comedian. In the 1960s, he produced shows with , both on television and in theaters. In 1968, he started working with

Rudi Carrell Rudi Carrell (born Rudolf Wijbrand Kesselaar; 19 December 1934 – 7 July 2006) was a Dutch entertainer. Along with famous entertainers such as Johannes Heesters and Linda de Mol, he was one of the most successful Dutch personalities active in ...

on German television, which he continued doing for 13 seasons. Since his name was hard to pronounce for many Germans, he was known as "the small one with the moustache". He has stated that his success in making Germans laugh sometimes felt like a small revenge. Beside working with Rita Corita and Rudi Carrell, he also worked a lot with , both on television and the theaters. He wrote an

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

titled ''Cello met één snaar'' (''Cello with one string''). After a long illness with

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

and a

brain tumor A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and seconda ...

, Bueno de Mesquita died on August 18/19, 2005, in his hometown of Lelystad at the age of 87.

External links

* *
Varieté-artiest Bueno de Mesquita overleden
(Dutch) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bueno De Mesquita, Abraham 1918 births 2005 deaths 20th-century Sephardi Jews 21st-century Sephardi Jews Deaths from brain cancer in the Netherlands Deaths from lung cancer in the Netherlands Dutch male film actors Dutch Sephardi Jews Dutch television personalities Jewish Dutch comedians Male actors from Amsterdam Nazi concentration camp survivors