View source for Aart Staartjes

{{Short description|Dutch actor (1938–2020)}}
{{Expand Dutch|topic=bio|date=April 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name        =
| image       = Winnaars van de Nipkowschijf Aart Staa, Bestanddeelnr 930-4898 (cropped).jpg
| alt         =
| caption     = Aart Staartjes (1979)
| birth_name  =
| birth_date  = {{Birth date|1938|03|01|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Amsterdam]], [[Netherlands]]
| death_date  = {{Death date and age|2020|01|12|1938|03|01|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Groningen]], Netherlands
| nationality = Dutch
| other_names =
| occupation  = Actor, director, presenter, author
| years_active = 1957-2020
| known_for   = Playing Meneer Aart in ''[[Sesamstraat]]''
}}
'''Aart Staartjes''' (1 March 1938 – 12 January 2020) was a Dutch [[actor]], [[television director|director]], [[television presenter]] and [[documentary|documentary maker]] from [[Amsterdam]]. He was portrayed Meneer Aart ("Mister Aart") on ''[[Sesamstraat]]'', the Dutch co-production of ''[[Sesame Street]]''. In that persona he authored a book, {{lang|nl|Meneer Aart: Leven en werken van de man die geen kindervriend wil heten}} ("Mister Aart: Life and work of the man who does not want to be named a friend to children").
Staartjes presented the annual arrival of [[Sinterklaas]] in the Netherlands.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://nos.nl/l/2318352|title=Tv-maker en Sesamstraat-icoon Aart Staartjes na ongeluk overleden|website=nos.nl|date=12 January 2020 |language=nl|access-date=2020-01-12}}</ref>
== Early life ==
Staartjes was born in [[Nieuwendam]], a neighbourhood of [[Amsterdam-Noord]]. He had an older brother, and a younger sister. They lived in a house on the Nieuwendammerdijk. His father, his grandfather, and an uncle of his worked in a carpentry shop located behind the house. Staartjes started his primary education at the age of eight.<ref name="Hoek2002">{{cite news |title=Aart Staartjes |author=Sietse van der Hoek |url=http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2844/Archief/archief/article/detail/638548/2002/10/05/Aart-Staartjes.dhtml |newspaper=[[De Volkskrant]] |date=5 October 2002 |accessdate=22 May 2013 |language=Dutch}}</ref> After that, he went to the [[Meer Uitgebreid Lager Onderwijs|mulo]] in Amsterdam, followed by the Kweekschool, a [[teachers' college]]. He dropped out of the Kweekschool in 1958, and went to the [[Theaterschool|theatre school]]. He graduated in 1961.
== Career ==
After graduation from the Toneelschool, Staartjes performed with various companies including the Nieuw Rotterdams Toneel en Studio.<ref name=nos>{{cite news |url=https://nos.nl/artikel/2318359-staartjes-wilde-tv-maken-vanuit-het-perspectief-van-het-kind.html |title=Staartjes wilde tv maken vanuit het perspectief van het kind |first=Petra |last=Steenhoff |language=nl |accessdate=13 January 2020 |date=12 January 2020 |publisher=[[Nederlandse Omroep Stichting]]}}</ref> Staartjes made his debut in 1961 in ''Meneer Topaze'', based on a play written by [[Marcel Pagnol]] in the 1930s.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}} He performed in a number of TV shows, and in 1967 starts the show ''Woord voor Woord'' for the [[Interkerkelijke Omroep Nederland]], in which he performed Bible readings. He is the voice of Rocus in the children's show ''[[Fabeltjeskrant]]''.<ref name=nos/>
A key moment in Staartjes' career came in 1972, when broadcaster [[Omroepvereniging VARA|VARA]] asked him to develop a children's show. ''[[De Stratemakeropzeeshow]]'', created with actors-singers [[Wieteke van Dort]] and [[Joost Prinsen]], and the writers' collective of [[Willem Wilmink]], [[Karel Eykman]], and [[Hans Dorrestijn]], is a program firmly grounded on a children's perspective, sometimes controversially so, and runs until 1974.<ref name=nos/> The show did not eschew using colloquial language; "Poop and Pee [[Minuet]]", for instance, was criticized in the tabloid ''[[De Telegraaf]]''.<ref name=mooren>{{cite book|last=Mooren|first=Piet|title=Langs de Lange Lindelaan|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xrAoNdKh-msC&pg=PA76|accessdate=4 June 2015|year=1998|publisher=NBD Biblion|isbn=9789054831693|page=76|chapter=Vaak ontstaan gruwelijk snel de mooie dingen: Interview met Harry Bannink}}</ref> The show and its successor were hailed as groundbreaking in offering the point of view of children and in popularizing [[poetry for children]] to a wide audience.<ref name=coillie>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5F0st8-bBngC&pg=PA284 |title=Leesbeesten en boekenfeesten: hoe werken (met) kinder- en jeugdboeken? |first=Jan |last=van Coillie |publisher=NBD Biblion |year=1999 |isbn=9789054831891 |page=284}}</ref> After the show ended in 1974, he performed in and co-directed ''[[De film van ome Willem]]'', starring [[Edwin Rutten]], a show that ran until 1989.<ref name=nos/>
He provided the voice of Bernard in the Dutch dub of ''[[The Rescuers]]'', as well as the additional voices of Deacon Owl and Deadeye the Rabbit.
With van Dort and Prinsen, with whom he made the ''Stratemakeropzeeshow'', he created ''J.J. de Bom voorheen De Kindervriend'', in 1979. He played the role of Hein Gatje, a postman who delivers letters in which children write of their problems and predicaments, which are tackled in the show.<ref name=nos/> The three teamed up again with writers Wilmink, Eykman, and Dorrestijn.<ref name=coillie/> The VARA pulled it after 32 episodes.<ref name=nos/>
In 1984, Staartjes started to play the role of Meneer Aart in ''Sesamstraat'', the Dutch co-production of ''[[Sesame Street]]''. Meneer Aart is a grumpy elderly man who always has something to complain about, especially about the animal characters Pino, Tommie and Ieniemienie. After the death in 1999 [[Lex Goudsmit]], who played the resident "grandfather" character on the show, Meneer Aart portrayed that role. He played Meneer Aart until 2018, when the [[Nederlandse Omroep Stichting|NOS]] decided to stop making the show and show only re-runs.<ref name=nos/> Staartjes also starred in ''[[Het Klokhuis]]'', a show started in 1988; his character was Professor Doctor Fetze Alsvanouds, a distracted professor. Staartjes developed the show with [[Ben Klokman]]. He also welcomed ''[[Sinterklaas]]'' at his annual arrival in the Netherlands, for almost 20 years until 2001. By this time he had cut down on acting, though he still performed occasionally, in 2002 in the TV drama ''Mevrouw de minister'', and in 2006 as circus director Willy Waltz in the series ''Waltz''.<ref name=nos/>
== Personal life and death ==
Staartjes was 22 years old when his first child was born. He divorced his first wife sixteen years later. He later married a woman named Hanna.<ref name="Hoek2002" />
On 10 January 2020, Staartjes was involved in a collision between a car and his [[Quadricycle (EU vehicle classification)|quadricycle]] in [[Leeuwarden]]. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition and died two days later.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/nieuws/nederland/artikel/4983256/aart-staartjes-overleden-sesamstraat|title=Aart Staartjes op 81-jarige leeftijd overleden na ongeluk|date=2020-01-12|website=RTL Nieuws|language=nl|access-date=2020-01-12}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> He was 81 years old.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://myprivacy.dpgmedia.net/?siteKey=V9f6VUvlHxq9wKIN&callbackUrl=https%3a%2f%2fwww.ad.nl%2fprivacy-gate%2faccept%3fredirectUri%3d%252fshow%252faart-staartjes-81-overleden-na-verkeersongeval%257ea5ce7116%252f|title=Aart Staartjes (81) overleden na verkeersongeval|last=|first=|date=|website=ad.nl|language=Dutch|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-01-12}}{{Dead link|date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
== Filmography (selection) ==
*''[[Fabeltjeskrant|De FabeltjesKrant]]'' (TV series), voice of Rocus (1969–72)
*''[[De Stratemakeropzeeshow]]'' (TV series), starring as Stratemaker-op-zee, abbreviated "Straat"
*[[Winter in Wartime#Adaptations|''Oorlogswinter'' (''Winter in Wartime'')]] (1975 TV mini-series), director<ref>{{cite news|date=1975|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0233090/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm|work=Oorlogswinter (1975 TV miniseries)|title= Full Cast and Crew}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|accessdate=August 9, 2016|title=Oorlogswinter|url=https://www.episodate.com/tv-show/oorlogswinter|website=episodate.com|date=2 October 1975 }}</ref>
*[[Pinkeltje (film)|''Pinkeltje'']] (1978 film), starring as Pinkeltje (Fingerling)
*''[[De Film van Ome Willem]]'' (TV series) {{citation needed|date=August 2016}}
*''[[J.J. de Bom, voorheen de Kindervriend]]'' (TV series), as Hein Gatje (1979–81)
*''[[Het Klokhuis]]'' (TV series) 1988-, among others as Fetze Als-vanouds
*''[[Waltz (series)|Waltz]]'' (TV miniseries) 2006, starring as Willy Waltz {{citation needed|date=August 2016}}
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
== External links ==
{{Commons category|Aart Staartjes}}
*{{IMDb name|0820868}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Staartjes, Aart}}
[[Category:1938 births]]
[[Category:2020 deaths]]
[[Category:Male actors from Amsterdam]]
[[Category:Dutch male television actors]]
[[Category:Dutch children's television presenters]]
[[Category:Sinterklaas]]
[[Category:Road incident deaths in the Netherlands]]