Willem Nijholt dies at 88: “Making people laugh is harder than making people cry”

Willem Nijholt died in his sleep at the age of 88. Nijholt was a multi-talent and could sing, dance and act. He has appeared in programs for both children and adults. He worked with greats like Wim Sonneveld, Annie M.G. Schmidt and Harry Bannink.

Credit: Wikimedia Commons: Bas_agterberg CC BY-SA 3.0 NL

Willem Nijholt was born in 1934 in Gombong, Dutch East Indies, where he was imprisoned by the Japanese in various camps during the Second World War. In 2009, SBS Dutch interviewed the actor, and he said that as a small child he dreamed of “being on stage”.