Biography

He married the much younger Sinia Franke in 1948, and in 1952 married 19-year-old girl Carla van den Hurk. He divorced Carla in 1958 and was getting lonely.

Lou Bandy was a versatile performer. As a singer, he recorded gramophone records and appeared in a few Dutch feature films. In the first of these, "Het meisje met den blauwen hoed" (1934), he even played a dual role.

In 1942, Bandy was arrested for anti-German provocation; during a performance, he had mimicked Seyss-Inquart's limping gait. Members of the NSB present in the audience reported the incident to the occupying forces. He spent a night in Scheveningen prison and was subsequently transferred to a hostage camp in Haaren, where he was interned. He secured his release by feigning a heart condition. Furthermore, he wrote a submissive letter to the occupying authorities requesting permission to perform again. Shortly thereafter, he was arrested once more and transferred to a hostage camp, where he attempted suicide. After receiving medical treatment, he returned home around Christmas 1942. He was placed under house arrest and required to remain in Doorn; consequently, he did not perform again for the remainder of the war.

He often improvised and—like a stand-up comedian avant la lettre—frequently succeeded in making the audience laugh. He did not shy away from crude remarks in the process; he greeted a lady who arrived late with the words: "Hey Marie, nice of you to join us—I wouldn't have recognized you so quickly with your clothes on.".

In 1921 he married the pianist Eugenie Küch, a German officer's daughter who would have a great impact on his career: she taught him decent social skills, taught him the importance of speaking proper Dutch, and helped him get his first lucrative contracts. With her support, the young man from the Hague found himself within a few years working with the top artists and theater impresarios.