John van Leeuwarden (4 July 1941 – 31 January 2019), who recorded under the name Johnny Lion, was a Dutch singer, journalist and actor. His best known song as a solo artist was his hit single "Sophietje". He also recorded with The Jumping Jewels and had a few hit songs including "

Wheels A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction with axles, allow heavy objects to be ...

"", "Africa" and " Irish Washerwoman".

Musical career

Lion started his musical career in 1959 as singer of ''Johnny and his Jewels'', later named ''The Jumping Jewels''. The Jumping Jewels had a number-one hit single in the Netherlands with the instrumental "

" in 1961, as well as top 10 hits with "Africa" (No. 8) in 1963 and "Irish Washerwoman" / "Java" (No. 9) in 1964. Lion left the band in 1965 to focus on a solo career. He had two hit singles: "Sophietje" (No. 5) in 1965 and "Tjingeling" (No. 14) in 1966. Sophietje was a Dutch translation of Swedish song "Fröken Fräken" and dedicated to Lion's then-girlfriend Sophie van Kleef. He had two further minor hits in the 1980s, first the title song of the 1983 film ''

Brandende liefde '' Brandende liefde'' (Dutch for ''Burning Love'') is a 1983 in film, 1983 Netherlands, Dutch drama film directed by Ate de Jong. Cast *Monique van de Ven ... Anna *Peter Jan Rens ... Jan Bosman *Ellen Vogel ... Mademoiselle Bonnema *Huub van ...

'', and "Alleen in Dallas" in 1988. He also collaborated with

Rob de Nijs Rob de Nijs (born 26 December 1942) is a Dutch singer and actor, active since the 1960s. Biography 1962–1968 De Nijs, backed by The Lords, won a talent-contest in 1962 and released his first single in 1962, " Ritme van de Regen". In 1965 D ...

in Circus Boltini. Boltini was Lion's second wife Mariska Akkerman's uncle.

Journalism

In the 1990s he wrote columns for weekly-magazine

Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word was originally coined in ...

Acting

Lion acted in the 1998 film ''

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

'' and in 2003 he had a minor role in ''

Van God Los A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across ...

''.

Personal life

He was married twice. Lion suffered from Alzheimer's disease and lung cancer in his final years, and died in January 2019.telegraaf.nl
; ''Johnny Lion (77) overleden] – Telegraaf''

References

External links

*
Bio
– Muziekencyclopedie {{DEFAULTSORT:Lion, Johnny 1941 births 2019 deaths Musicians from The Hague 20th-century Dutch male singers Dutch male actors Dutch journalists Deaths from lung cancer Deaths from cancer in the Netherlands