Trivia

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.

Bandy now rests in a simple grave in a disused cemetery (the Old General Cemetery in Doorn).

Lou Bandy was one of the most popular artists of The Netherlands between the two world wars. His songs Zoek de zon op (Look for the sun) , Louise zit niet op je nagels te bijten (Louise, don't bite your nails), Schep vreugde in het leven (Put joy in life) and Wie heeft er suiker in de erwtensoep gedaan? (Who put sugar in the pea soup?) became Dutch evergreens.

At first he performed with his brother Willy Derby under the name The Bandy Brothers (Bandy being an Anglicisation of his last name Dieben with the syllables reversed) Soon it became apparent that the characters of the brothers were too different to work together; in contrast with Willy, Lou was known as a difficult person.

Bandy was known by the public as a singer of happy lyrics, but to those who knew him better, he had a less upbeat image.

Bandy continued to perform following the German occupation of The Netherlands in World War II. In 1942, he was banned from performing when he mocked the limp of Reichskommissar Arthur Seyss-Inquart during a performance at Royal Theater Carré in Amsterdam.

At his brother's funeral, Bandy allowed himself a few vulgarities during his eulogy, alluding to the fact that Willy had died while making love. Those present were shocked.

Bandy's urge to hook young girls became increasingly insistent. However, in his young partners, the vain Bandy did not find the uncritical admirers he sought, nor was he still idolized by the public. His insecurity turned into outright stage fright.

Bandy worked as a piccolo, house servant, street singer, and a conscriptionist with the Navy before he started a serious career in variety in 1915.

When he was not popular anymore and he became very lonely he killed himself in his Zandvoort apartment close to the sea.

Bandy became known to the public as a singer of cheerful lyrics, usually penned by Ferry van Delden or Philip Pinkhof (alias Rido). Among those in his immediate circle, however, he had a less cheerful reputation. Anecdotes abound of Bandy offending colleagues with caustic remarks, as do stories of him buying up lyrics from the denatured-alcohol drinkers on The Hague's Malieveld for a pittance.