Lou van Burg (born Loetje van Weerdenburg) (25 August 1917 - 26 April 1986) was a Dutchman who had a successful career as a television personality, singer and

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...

host in Germany. Born 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 ...

, van Burg began his career as a singer and conferencier in Paris

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

s. He first appeared as a TV entertainer on the Austrian

ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the ...

broadcaster in 1958 and shortly afterwards also on German ARD. When the second German television broadcaster

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

had launched in 1963, van Burg in the following year became the host of ''Der goldene Schuss'', a game show that quickly reached an immense popularity. Referring to Schiller's ''

Wilhelm Tell William Tell (german: Wilhelm Tell, ; french: Guillaume Tell; it, Guglielmo Tell; rm, Guglielm Tell) is a folk hero of Switzerland. According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Alb ...

'', in an early example of an

interactive game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedback ...

the contestants, supported by viewers via telephone, had to true up the bolt of a

crossbow A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an elastic launching device consisting of a bow-like assembly called a ''prod'', mounted horizontally on a main frame called a ''tiller'', which is hand-held in a similar fashion to the stock of a long fi ...

trying to hit the bullseye on a displayed target. The ritual, accompanied by van Burg's

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

s (''"Wunnebar"''), became a TV classic. On 25 August 1966 the show was even broadcast from the

Monte Carlo Casino The Monte Carlo Casino, officially named Casino de Monte-Carlo, is a gambling and entertainment complex located in Monaco. It includes a casino, the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, and the office of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo. The Casino de Monte-Carlo i ...

starring

Grace Kelly Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) was an American actress who, after starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956. Kelly ...

and in 1967 it was adopted by the British

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

network (''

The Golden Shot ''The Golden Shot'' is a British television game show produced by ATV for ITV between 1 July 1967 and 13 April 1975, based on the German TV show '' Der goldene Schuß''. It is most commonly associated with host Bob Monkhouse, but three other ...

''). In the same year however, van Burg had to hand off the show after the yellow press had spread rumours about his private life. In 1975 he acted in

Rosa von Praunheim Holger Bernhard Bruno Mischwitzky (born Holger Radtke; 25 November 1942), known professionally as Rosa von Praunheim, is a German film director, author, painter and one of the most famous gay rights activists in the German-speaking world. In ov ...

's film ''Berliner Bettwurst'', which brought him back into business in 1976, again hosting several game shows on TV. From 1979 he also worked with

Frank Elstner Timm Franz Maria Elstner (born 19 April 1942), known as Frank Elstner, is a German television presenter. Early life Elstner went to school in Rastatt in Germany and gained his first experience in broadcasting as a child when he acted in radio ...

as a radio host on the German service of

Radio Luxemburg RTL Radio is a German commercial radio station based in Berlin and the part of the RTL Group. It originated as the German language service of Radio Luxembourg, which began broadcasting after World War II from Luxembourg. It broadcasts adult c ...

. Lou van Burg died in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, aged 68.

Literature

* Lou van Weerdenburg: ''Lou van Burg erzählt: Aus dem Leben eines Fernsehstars''. Kranich-Verlag: Berlin-Zehlendorf 1961

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Burg, van Lou Dutch television personalities Dutch game show hosts Dutch radio personalities Mass media people from The Hague Dutch emigrants to Germany 1917 births 1986 deaths ZDF people