Ramses Shaffy

Ramses Shaffy

Ramses Shaffy, 1980

Ramses Shaffy (born August 29, 1933 in Neuilly-sur-Seine , France , † December 1, 2009 in Amsterdam , Netherlands ; actually Didi Snellen ) was a Dutch chansonnier and actor . After a career as an actor with the Nederlandse Comedie , he switched to singing in the 1960s. Some of his songs became classics in his home country.

biography

Shaffy, raised under the name Didi Snellen, was born in a suburb of the French capital Paris as the son of an Egyptian diplomat and a Polish countess of Russian descent. He grew up with his mother in Cannes . When she fell ill with tuberculosis , he first went to an aunt in Utrecht, then to a children's home and finally, at the age of six, to foster parents in Leiden . He later processed the farewell to his mother in his song De trein naar het noorden (The train to the north).

After attending middle school, which he left without a degree, he was accepted at the Amsterdam Drama School in 1952. With classmates in his class, he brought his first play to the stage in 1955, Olé La Marguérita . In the following years he was seen in the Nederlandse Comedie in various roles, such as Anatol, in Sweet Bird Youth or in Midsummer Night's Dream . Some of the performances were broadcast on Dutch television. Together with his partner Joop Admiraal , he traveled to Rome in 1960 in the hope of finding work as a film actor there, but returned without having achieved anything. The letters from this time to their mutual friend Shireen Strooker were published in 2004 as Brieven uit Rome .

The first record was made in English under the title Come With Me . In 1961 he took part as a singer at the Knokke Song Festival. When he couldn't find the stage during a theater performance after the break, his involvement with the Nederlandse Comedie came to an end. He played a few smaller roles on other stages.

In 1964 he started the theater group Shaffy Chantant and celebrated its premiere on October 22, 1964 in Amsterdam with a literary and poetic program. In his ensemble he worked for a long time with the singer Liesbeth List and the pianist Louis van Dijk . One of his most famous songs, Shaffy Cantate , which was released as a single in 1966, dates from this period . With his own composition Sammy he reached number 2 on the Dutch charts in 1966. A number of other well-known musicians, including Thijs van Leer , to whom Shaffy later dedicated the song Jij bent nu daarbinnen , were members of the ensemble for a short time.

In 1967 he took on three leading roles in feature films: alongside Johnny Lion he starred in Liefdesbekentenissen by Wim Verstappen , directed by Lennaert Nijgh in Een Vreemde Vogel . For his role as parasitic bon vivant in Erik Terpstra's De Verloedering Van De Swieps , Shaffy was awarded an Edison .

Together with Liesbeth List, the recording Pastorale was made in 1968 , with which he again reached a top position in the charts. In January 1971, Shaffy was robbed on the street and was hospitalized for two months. After recovery, he had two more hits with Zing, Vecht, Huil, Bid, Lach, Werk En Bewonder and Aan De Andere Kant Van De Heuvel . Under the direction of Hugo Claus he played in the play Warm En Koud by Fernand Crommelynck and appeared in a separate program together with Liselore Gerritsen . In the same year he was awarded the Louis David Prize .

From the beginning of the 1980s Shaffy could be seen again in various films. With his portrayal of Don Quixote in the musical The Man of La Mancha at the Koninklijk Ballet van Vlaanderen , he reaped great success. He also played the role of Graaf van Egmont in the Flemish-Dutch miniseries Willem van Oranje .

The Dutch documentary filmmaker Pieter Fleury made the documentary Ramses: Où est mon prince about Shaffy in 2002 , which was awarded a Golden Calf at the Dutch Film Festival in Utrecht . In 2003 Bas Steman wrote the biography Naakt in de orkaan .

In 2002 Shaffy was honored with the Blijvend Applaus Prijs . On May 31, 2006 he received the Edison œuvre Prijs voor Kleinkunst, which was awarded for the first time . On November 6, 2007, a bust with the image of Shaffy was unveiled in the Amsterdam Schouwburg .

After harassing passers-by several times at night, he was taken to a care home in Amsterdam. His many years of excessive alcohol consumption had triggered Korsakoff syndrome and epilepsy .

In 2005 he was in the charts for the first time in years with a new version of Laat me (the original from 1978). This time he had recorded the song with the band Alderliefste and Liesbeth List. On July 11, 2008, on the occasion of the celebrations for Feestdag van Vlaanderen , he sang Laat me live with the band Alderliefste at the open-air concert in St. Niklaas, Belgium .

Shaffy's last performance took place on November 27, 2009 in the Laurenskerk in Rotterdam . Despite illness, he played the piano as part of the award of the Laurenspenning from the city of Rotterdam to Sander de Kramer .

On May 5, 2009, it was announced that Shaffy was suffering from esophageal cancer . He succumbed to its consequences on December 1, 2009 at the age of 76. A farewell party was held for him on December 7th in the Carré Theater . Shaffy was buried on December 8, 2009 in the Zorgvlied cemetery in Amsterdam . His grave lies under a young tree, which was decorated with red and white ribbons during the funeral, each with a word from the text Zing, vecht, huil, bid, lach, werk en bewonder. Niet zonder ons. was standing.

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		NL
1978	That night	NL12 (8 weeks) NL
1989	Liesbeth List & Ramses Shaffy	NL24 (9 weeks) NL	with Liesbeth List
2006	Laat mijn liedjes nu maar zwerven	NL25 (7 weeks) NL
2007	100 mooiste songs from Ramses en Liesbeth	NL73 (2 weeks) NL	with Liesbeth List
2009	Laat me	NL4 (24 weeks) NL
2013	Leef!	NL3 (7 weeks) NL	Ramses Shaffy & Vrienden
	Ramses 80	NL55 (7 weeks) NL

More albums

• 1966: Ramses II
• 1969: Sunset Sunkiss
• 1970: Zonder Bagage
• 1972: Wij Zullen Doorgaan
• 1975: We Leven Nog
• 1980: Ramses Live
• 1988: Sterven Van Geluk
• 1997: Ramses '97
• 2002: Muziek Uit De Film Ramses
• 2011: Nederlandstalige Popklassiekers (with Liesbeth List, NL:gold)

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		NL
1966	Sammy Ramses II	NL2 (20 weeks) NL
1969	Pastoral pastoral	NL3 (14 weeks) NL	with Liesbeth List
1971	Zing, Vecht, Huil, Bid, Lach, En Bewonder Zonder Bagage	NL21 (3 weeks) NL
1975	Wij Zullen Doorgaan Wij Zullen Doorgaan	NL13 (5 weeks) NL
1978	Laat Me	NL18 (15 weeks) NL	with Liesbeth List

Web links

• Ramses Shaffy website (Dutch)
• Ramses Shaffy in the Popencyclopedie of the Muziek Centrum Nederland (Dutch)
• Ramses Shaffy in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7whrG1cwqqM&feature=related
2. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: NL albums NL singles
3. ↑ Awards for Music Sales: NL