Linda van Dyck (1948-2023)

Dutch stage and film actress Linda van Dyck (1948-2023) passed away on 17 December 2023. She appeared in a dozen Dutch and Belgian films, which were sometimes very successful in the low countries. Van Dyck started as a pop singer and songwriter in the 1960s. The actress also worked for television, in the Netherlands and Sweden, where she lived for some years in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Linda van Dyck was 75.


Dutch postcard. Photo: Funckler Grammofoonplaten.


Dutch press photo. Linda van Dyck and Ann Hasekamp in the stage play 'Nacht, moeder' (1984, Night, Mother).

Boo and the Booboo's

Linda van Dyck (sometimes written as Dijck) was born Linda Marianne de Hartogh in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in 1948. She was the daughter of the actors Leo de Hartogh and Teddy Schaank.

Her stepfather was the legendary Dutch stage actor Ko van Dijk, with whom she made her stage debut in 1959 in 'De Vader' (The Father) by August Strindberg.

In 1966 she appeared in two Dutch feature films: the murder mystery 10:32/10:32 in the Morning (Arthur Dreifuss, 1966) starring Linda Christian, and Het Gangstermeisje/A Gangstergirl (Frans Weisz, 1966) with Paolo Graziosi, Kitty Courbois and Gian Maria Volonté.

In the 1960s, she was best known as the singer of the band Boo and the Booboo's, for which she also wrote song texts. Her last single as a (solo) singer and also her biggest hit was 'Seduction Song' (1969).

She decided to become an actress and moved to Sweden where she worked for television for five years. She lived between 1969 and 1974 in Sweden as the partner of then-unknown director Lasse Hallström. Together, they worked on Ardy Strüwer's TV shows, which were internationally known.


Dutch postcard. Promocard by International Artists, Hilversum.


Dutch press photo by Jacques Senf b.v., Maasland. Photo: Jorge Fatauros. Willem Nijholt and Linda van Dijck in the play 'Sukses' (Success) (Jo Dua, 1982) written by Norman Beim.


Dutch press photo by Jacques Senf b.v., Maasland. Photo: Jorge Fatauros. Willem Nijholt and Linda van Dijck in the play 'Sukses' (Success) (Jo Dua, 1982) written by Norman Beim.

A sensual aunt

Linda van Dyck returned to the Netherlands in 1973 and appeared in several popular TV series and stage productions.

In 1979 she played a small part in the film Tiro (Jacob Bijl, 1979) with Kitty Courbois. A huge success was her role as the sensual aunt Coleta in the coming-of-age drama Twee vorstinnen en een vorst/Two Queens and a King (Otto Jongerius, 1981) with Eric Clerckx as the young protagonist and Kitty Courbois as his mother.

Another success was her part in the drama Ademloos/Breathless (Mady Saks, 1982) with Monique van de Ven. For these two roles, Linda van Dyck was proclaimed Best Dutch Film Actress in 1982. Another popular local hit was Ciske de Rat/Ciske the Rat (Guido Pieters, 1984) featuring child star Danny de Munk and Willeke van Ammelrooy as his nasty mother. Van Dyck played again the aunt of the protagonist.

In between these films, she appeared on stage and in such prestigious TV dramas as Willem van Oranje/William of Orange (Walter van der Kamp, 1984) starring Jeroen Krabbé.

Other films in which she appeared were the thriller De Grens/The Border (Leon de Winter, 1984) with Johan Leysen and Angela Winkler, and the war film In de schaduw van de overwinning/In the Shadow of the Victory (Ate de Jong, 1986) starring Jeroen Krabbé.


Dutch press photo. Linda van Dyck and Ann Hasekamp in 'Nacht, moeder' (1984, Night, Mother).


Dutch press photo. Linda van Dyck, Peter Faber and Danny de Munck in Ciske de Rat/Ciske the Rat (Guido Pieters, 1984).


Dutch press photo. Peter Faber, Danny de Munck and Linda van Dyck in Ciske de Rat/Ciske the Rat (Guido Pieters, 1984).

Knight

During the 1990s, Linda van Dyck only incidentally appeared in films. She played a supporting part in the Belgian-French-Dutch production Daens/Priest Daens (Stijn Conincx, 1994), based on the novel by Louis Paul Boon and featuring Jan Decleir.

A surprise was the award-winning TV film Suzy Q (Martin Koolhoven, 1999), about a weekend in the life of a bizarre family in the sixties. Van Dyck played the mother and her children were played by the upcoming stars Carice van Houten, Roeland Fernhout and Michiel Huisman.

Her later films included Magonia (Ineke Smits, 2001) with Ramsey Nasr, the swashbuckler Floris (Jean van de Velde, 2004) featuring Michiel Huisman, and the multicultural comedy Het schnitzelparadijs/Schnitzel Paradise (Martin Koolhoven, 2005).

Her greatest successes were in the Dutch theatre where she starred in such popular and acclaimed productions as 'De dood en het meisje' (2003, Death and the Maiden), 'Herfstsonate' (2005-2006, Autumn Sonata), 'Nacht, Moeder' (2006-2007, Night, Mother) and 'Una Giornata Particolare' (2007-2008).

In 2010 Linda van Dyck received a Royal Order: Ridder in de orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw (Knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion). Her last screen role was in the TV series Zwarte tulp/Black Tulip (2015-2016). She became partially paralysed following a brain infarct in 2021. Linda van Dyck was married to Jaap Nolst Trenité, with whom she had a son, TV presenter Jamie (Maxim Nolst) Trenité (1990).


The Dutch beat band Boo and the Booboo's featuring Linda van Dyck play 'Stengun' (1966). Source: Funnyfreakparade (YouTube).


Trailer of Het schnitzelparadijs/Schnitzel Paradise (2005). Source: KnipFilm (YouTube).

Sources: Hans Beerekamp (Het Schimmenrijk - Dutch), Wikipedia (Dutch), and IMDb.