Cornelis Reinier "Kees" van Kooten () (born 10 August 1941) is a Dutch comedian, television actor, and writer. He formed the duo Van Kooten & De Bie with

Wim de Bie Willem Philippe "Wim" de Bie (; born 17 May 1939) is a Dutch comedian, writer and singer. He formed the comedy duo Van Kooten en De Bie with Kees van Kooten. G.J. van Bork,Bie, Wim de, ''Schrijvers en dichters'', 2002. Retrieved on 17 December ...

from 1972 to 1998.

Biography

Cornelis Reinier van Kooten was born on 10 August 1941 in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

, Netherlands. He is the oldest child of Cornelis Reinier van Kooten en Anna Geertruida Snaauw. He has one sister, Anke, who is a year younger. He met his wife Barbara Kits in 1959 and married her on 18 October 1968. After their marriage they moved from The Hague to the polder village of Zuidoostbeemster, where their two children were born, Kasper in 1971 and

Kim Kim or KIM may refer to: Names * Kim (given name) * Kim (surname) ** Kim (Korean surname) *** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties **** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948 ** Kim, Vietnamese f ...

in 1974. Both children are well-known performers in the Netherlands. In 1978 the family moved to

Hilversum Hilversum () is a city and municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is the largest urban centre in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller towns. Hilvers ...

and in 1996 to

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 ...

. Van Kooten is best known for his collaboration with

. With him he formed the comedic duo Van Kooten en De Bie, often abbreviated as "Koot en Bie," in a variety of often very popular programs for the

VPRO The VPRO (stylized vpro; originally an acronym for , ) is a Dutch public broadcaster, which forms a part of the Dutch public broadcasting system. Founded in 1926 as a liberal Protestant broadcasting organization, it gradually became more ...

broadcasting organization from 1972 to 1998. Their collaboration had started in the Dalton Lyceum high school in The Hague, where they had formed a theater group named Cebrah. Every year between 1972 and 1985 they published a tear-off calendar named ', combining the Dutch words for tear-off and splitting one's sides in laughter; ''Bescheurkalender'' is now officially included in

Dutch dictionaries Notable dictionaries of the Dutch language include: *''Etymologicum teutonicae linguae'', the first known Dutch dictionary published by Cornelius Kiliaan in 1599. It continues to be a unique source of obsolete words today. *'' 't Nieuw Woorden-B ...

for any humorous block-calendar. Fenklup - Van Kooten & De Bie 31-05-1968 1

Wim de Bie en Kees van Kooten in Hadimassa

Books

Van Kooten has written some 47 books, including novels, short story and poetry collections, and autobiographical material. They are characterized by frequent wordplays and lighthearted satire of Dutch society. Few books have been translated in English. He often wrote under a wide variety of pseudonyms, including Koot, Jan Blommers, Hans van Dek, Tj. Hekking, Heer Kooten, Harry F. Kriele en Roman Tate. He also wrote several books together with Wim de Bie. Most of his books are published by ''

De Bezige Bij De Bezige Bij ("the busy bee") is one of the most important literary publishing companies in the Netherlands. History The company was founded illegally in 1943, during the German occupation of the Netherlands by ; its first publication was a poe ...

''. Among his better-known works are: *1969: ''Treitertrends'' ("trends in provocation") *1970: ''Treitertrends 2''. . *1972: ''Laatste Treitertrends''. . *1977: ''Koot droomt zich af''. . *1979: ''Koot graaft zich autobio''. . *1982: ''Veertig''. . *1984: ''Modermismen''. . *1986: ''Meer modermismen''. . *1988: ''Zeven sloten''. . *1989: ''Meest modermismen''. . *1991: ''Zwemmen met droog haar''. . *1993: ''Verplaatsingen''. . *1994: ''Meer dan alle modermismen''. . *1999: ''Levensnevel''. . *2000: ''Annie''. . *2007: ''Episodes: Een romance''. . *2013: ''De Verrekijker''. *2021: ''De tachtigjarige vrede''..

Awards

Van Kooten has received many awards for his television shows and writing, individually and with de Bie. Among these are: * 1974 –

Zilveren Nipkowschijf Zilveren Nipkowschijf (; "Silver Nipkow Disk", named for German television pioneer Paul Gottlieb Nipkow) is a Dutch television award that has been given out since 1961 by a selection of Dutch critics. The three founding critics were Henk Schaafsma ...

(Van Kooten en de Bie) * 1977 – Zilveren Nipkowschijf (Van Kooten en de Bie) * 1979 – ("for effortless use of the Dutch language") * 1985 – Special Zilveren Nipkowschijf (Van Kooten en de Bie) * 1985 –

Edison Award The Edison Award is an annual Dutch music prize awarded for outstanding achievements in the music industry. It is comparable to the American Grammy Award. The Edison award itself is a bronze replica of a statuette of Thomas Edison, designed by ...

for ''Draaikonten'' (Van Kooten en de Bie)Search "Prijswinnaars," then "last name = 'kooten,'" in * 1999 – ("for radio and television persona distinguished by their use of language") * 2004 –

Gouden Ganzenveer The Gouden Ganzenveer ("Golden goose quill") is a Dutch cultural award initiated in 1955, given annually to a person or organization of great significance to the written and printed word. Recipients are selected by an academy of people from the cul ...

("for exceptional contribution to Dutch literature") * 2006 – Edison Award for ''Audiotheek'', collected recordings of Van Kooten en de Bie

References

External links and sources

*
Van Kooten & De Bie homepage

Dutch National Library's files on Kees van Kooten
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kooten, Kees van 1941 births Living people 20th-century Dutch novelists 20th-century Dutch male writers 21st-century Dutch novelists Dutch male comedians Dutch columnists Dutch cabaret performers Dutch male television actors Writers from The Hague Dutch male novelists 21st-century Dutch male writers Dutch television writers Male television writers