Dutch autograph card by Impresariaat Lumen N.V., Hilversum. photo: Ton Janssen. Cabaret Pepijn with Ferd Hugas, Paul van Vliet and Liselore Gerritsen.
Dutch cabaret artist Paul van Vliet founded the Leidsch Studenten Cabaret, stood at the cradle of Theatre Pepijn and opened his own cabaret academy. He was also a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF. The Hague icon died on Tuesday 26 April 2023 at the age of 87. Pieter Paulus (Paul) van Vliet (The Hague, 10 September 1935 - there, 25 April 2023) was a Dutch cabaret artist.
Pieter Paulus van Vliet was born in 1935 in The Hague, in his grandmother's house. His parents were both visual artists. Father Van Vliet manufactured tapestries. He was also a drawing teacher, puppeteer and amateur playwright. During WW II, their family home was completely destroyed in the bombing of Bezuidenhout. The family had to build a new existence after the war. Already during his high school years, he wrote his own cabaret programmes, which he performed together with the later actor Dolf de Vries. After grammar school, Van Vliet worked for six months as an apprentice journalist with the Nieuwe Haagse Courant newspaper. He then went into military service early. He served as a welfare officer in the Westenberg barracks in Schalkhaar, performing revues in the evenings, some of which he wrote himself. Van Vliet went to study law in Leiden and met Princess Beatrix, among others, in his student days. In 1957, he founded the Leidsch Studenten Cabaret with Floor Kist a.o. The group, which also included his later wife Liselore Gerritsen and pianist Kai van Oven, performed hundreds of shows at home and abroad. During this period, Van Vliet made three LPs and his TV debut with VPRO. After his studies, he realised a 'dormant dream': he started his own cabaret company with Ferd Hugas, Liselore Gerritsen, Judith Bosch (the first year) and Rob van Kreeveld in his own theatre. In 1964, the first performance was given in Theatre PePijn. The little theatre with its "100 seats and 100 mugs" was sold out and would remain so every time until 1971, when Cabaret PePijn was disbanded. Van Vliet wrote four programmes for Cabaret PePijn. Recordings on gramophone record, TV performances, and a national tour in 1966 gave Cabaret PePijn more fame. In 1966, Van Vliet addressed Princess Beatrix and Prince Claus in the Ridderzaal. He offered Prince Claus an overcoat for their betrothal. The speech was of great significance for the rest of his career.
Paul van Vliet's final breakthrough to the general public was in 1970. He then performed his first solo show 'Een Avond aan Zee' (An Evening by the Sea) in the main hall of the old Kurhaus. The show was a success and was subsequently performed for thirty more summers until 2004. With his recognisable voice, Paul van Vliet managed to charm many. 'The man with the most beautiful voice in The Hague and the whole of the Netherlands', according to Prime Minister Mark Rutte. It is that voice that committed himself to UNICEF in 1992. Van Vliet would be UNICEF Netherlands' ambassador for many years afterwards. In 1994, Van Vliet was asked for the lead role of Professor Henry Higgins in the Dutch production of the musical 'My Fair Lady'. After two successful years, during which 'My Fair Lady' was constantly rebooked, he returned to his own world in 1997: the one-man show. He created three more programmes through 2004 and a Tour de chant with the Residentie Orkest conducted by Jurre Haanstra (1999-2000). In 2007, Van Vliet made a trip to the big stage with Anne-Wil Blankers in the play 'Love Letters', which was repeated for two seasons due to its success (2008-2009). Not only his voice but his language was also loved. Several of his expressions entered the Dikke Van Dale in 2019. 'Too big for the dolls, too small for the guys' from the iconic song 'Girls of Thirteen' is one such phrase. And also 'nice things for the people', which Van Vliet once used in a skit in which he played a farmer. During his lifetime, Van Vliet devoted himself several times to the cultural life of The Hague. In the early 1970s, for instance, he campaigned for the preservation of the Kurhaus. At the time, Scheveningen Boulevard looked neglected and the iconic building was in danger of being demolished. A committee - including Paul van Vliet - fought hard against it. With success. Despite loving his hometown, Van Vliet moved to a polder near Breukelen in the mid-1970s, where he moved into an old farmhouse. Only 34 years later, in 2012, he returned to The Hague. In 2011, the cabaret artist founded the Paul van Vliet Academy, where he also taught himself. At the theatre school in The Hague, people can study cabaret, cabaret and entertainment. When Van Vliet was 82, he decided to stop playing shows. Van Vliet was married to Liselore Gerritsen, who died in 2020. After divorcing Liselore, he married again in 1983, to Lidewij de Jongh, who brought two children. Paul van Vliet died after a short illness on 25 April 2023 at the age of 87.
Sources: West (Dutch) and Wikipedia (Dutch).