Urbain Servranckx (born 7 June 1949), better known as Urbanus, is a Belgian comedian, actor, singer and

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

writer. Although he is most famous as comedian, some of his songs became hits, such as ''Bakske vol met stro'' (1979), ''Madammen met een bontjas'' (1980) and ''Hittentit'' (1982). In Flanders and the Netherlands Urbanus is one of the most popular and famous entertainers of all time.

Career

Urbanus, artist's name of Urbain Joseph Servranckx (

Dilbeek Dilbeek () is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in the Flemish region of Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Dilbeek proper, Groot-Bijgaarden, Itterbeek (with Sint-Anna-Pede), Schepdaal (with Sint-Gertrudis-Pe ...

, 7 June 1949) is a Belgian comedian, singer, guitarist, author of comic books and actor. Originally he used the artist name: Urbanus van Anus. Anus was the name of his former backing group. In 1973 he began performing

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 ...

and comedy. He became popular in Flanders and managed to duplicate his success in the Netherlands, building a steady career since. He has appeared in TV shows, some which he wrote himself. Urbanus released several musical singles, some of which entered the hit parade. Urbain went solo in 1974 under the name Urbanus van Anus. After the then BRT (Belgian Radio and Television) asked him for a comic act, he dropped the name "van Anus" and since then it has been simply Urbanus. The first cover of Urbanus live was also drawn by Daniël Geirnaert. His Christmas song ''Bakske Vol Met Stro'' (1979) was controversial for lampooning the biblical story of the birth of Jesus, but also became his signature song and best-selling record for the very same reasons. Urbanus considers himself an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, although he wed in the Roman Catholic Church and had his children baptized. In 2008, he was awarded the Prize for Liberty by the Flemish think tank

Nova Civitas Nova Civitas was a Flemish think tank based on the principles of classic liberalism in combination with Anglo-Saxon conservatism. Nova Civitas claimed at its founding to be completely independent, although it was recognized and supported by the Fl ...

Film career

Urbanus starred in three films: ''

Hector In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...

'' (1987), ''

Koko Flanel ''Koko Flanel'' is a Belgian comedy movie directed by Stijn Coninx starring Urbanus, Bea Van Der Maat, Willeke van Ammelrooy, Herbert Flack and Ann Petersen. The movie was released in 1990 and was until 18 February 2009 the most successful F ...

'' (1990) and '' Seventh Heaven (1993)''. The two first films were the leaders in the Flemish box offices for many years. His first movie, ''Hector'', directed by Stijn Coninx, won the 1988 international comedy film festival in

Chamrousse Chamrousse () is a ski resort in southeastern France, in the Belledonne mountain range near Grenoble in the Isère department. It is located in a commune of the same name and is situated on the Recoin at and the Roche Béranger at . The ski- ...

, France. He also was named best actor by

Radio France Radio France is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: *France Inter — Radio France's "generalist" station, featuring entertaining and informative talk mixed with a wide variety of ...

and

Dauphiné Libéré The Dauphiné (, ) is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois. In the 12th centur ...

. ''Seventh Heaven'' was a

box office bomb A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

. In

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Urbanus is well-known and very popular since 1974. Although he is most famous as a comedian, some of his songs became hits, such as ''Bakske vol met stro'' (1979), ''Madammen met een bontjas'' (1980) and ''Hittentit'' (1982). Urbanus lent his voice to the

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

versions of the

Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californi ...

movies, ''

Cars A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as t ...

'' and ''

Cars 2 ''Cars 2'' is a 2011 American computer-animated Spy film, spy comedy film produced by Pixar, Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the sequel to ''Cars (film), Cars'' (2006), the second film in the Cars (franchise), ''Cars'' f ...

'', where he was the voice of the character Mater.

Comics career

Urbanus is script writer of a comics series about a childlike version of himself, ''Urbanus'', which debuted in 1982. The series is drawn by

Willy Linthout Willy Linthout (born 1 May 1953) is a Belgian comics author, best known for the ''Urbanus'' comics and his graphic novel '' Years of the Elephant''. Biography Willy Linthout was born in Eksaarde near Lokeren, Belgium in 1953. He was a mechanic ...

and from the third story on, Urbanus started providing the scenarios. The comic strip managed to become the longest-running series in the celebrity-inspired genre and new albums are still published to this day. The comics also sell well in the

. Urbanus also writes the gags for the satirical comic ''De Geverniste Vernepelingskes'' (1998), which pokes fun at several Flemish celebrities. It was first drawn by

Jan Bosschaert Jan Bosschaert (born 15 December 1957) is a Belgian comics artist, painter and illustrator, best known for the comic series ''Sam'' and '' Jaguar'', and his illustrations for the books of Marc De Bel. Biography Jan Bosschaert was born in Borge ...

, then

Dirk Stallaert A dirk is a long bladed thrusting dagger.Chisholm, Hugh (ed.), ''Dagger'', The Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th ed., Vol. VII, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press (1910), p. 729 Historically, it gained its name from the Highland Dirk (Scot ...

and finally Steven Dupré. Urbanus also writes gags for the children's comics ''Plankgas en Plastronneke'' (2004–2008) and ''Mieleke Melleke Mol'' (since 2003), both drawn by

. Urbanus has also drawn some gag comics himself. He also illustrated many of his own album covers.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Films

Urbanus produced and appeared in several movies: *''

'' (1988) *''

'' (1990) *''Les Sept péchés capitaux'' (1992) *'' De Zevende Hemel'' (1993) *''Max'' (1994) *' (2004) *'' K3 en het IJsprinsesje'' (2007) Urbanus did voices for the following movies: *''

March of the Penguins ''March of the Penguins'' (French ''La Marche de l'empereur'' ; ) is a 2005 French feature-length nature documentary directed and co-written by Luc Jacquet, and co-produced by Bonne Pioche and the National Geographic Society. The documentary dep ...

'' (2005) – narration for the Dutch version *''

'' (2006) – voice of Mater for the Flemish version

References

External links

*
urbanusstrips.blogspot.com
Urbanus comic books

{{Authority control (arts) 1949 births Living people 20th-century Flemish male actors 21st-century Flemish male actors 20th-century Belgian male singers 21st-century Belgian male singers 21st-century Belgian singers Belgian atheists Belgian stand-up comedians Belgian comedy musicians Belgian humorists Belgian pop singers Belgian rock singers Belgian singer-songwriters Belgian male guitarists Belgian satirists Belgian surrealist artists Belgian comics writers Belgian comics artists Album-cover and concert-poster artists Flemish male film actors Flemish male voice actors Flemish television writers People from Dilbeek Dutch-language singers of Belgium Surreal comedy Male television writers Religious controversies in music Religious controversies in television Religious controversies in Belgium Obscenity controversies in music Television controversies in Belgium