Trivia

One of the best joketellers and comedians in Belgium.

The Antwerp native, who began his career as an operetta singer, toured Flanders as a singer-entertainer from the mid-1930s onwards.

On the Flemish radio station Studio Brussel, radio host Peter Van de Veire used to play a joke by Tony Bell every day as a closing segment on his show, 'De grote Peter Van de Veire show', during the 2005–2006 season.

At the mere mention of his name, the older Flemish generation immediately thinks of all those risqué jokes he told over the years—risqué, certainly, but never dirty or vulgar. With Tony Bell, it was always just a joke, with the emphasis on the humor. People couldn't seem to get enough of his LPs filled with Antwerp-style humor and sketches. Over the course of his career, Tony received one platinum and three gold records for sales exceeding 200,000 copies.

For his contributions to cabaret, he was appointed a Knight of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) and received the "Pro Musica" badge of honour.

Tony made his debut at the age of 11 and, from 1930 onwards, played minor roles at the Luna and Scala theaters in Antwerp.

In 1988, on his seventy-fifth birthday, he was honored with a grand tribute at the Arenberg Theatre in Antwerp by, among others, Bob Davidse, Terry Van Ginderen, Gaston Berghmans and Leo Martin, Bobbejaan Schoepen, and De Strangers.

He received the distinction of Knight of the Order of Leopold. The Order of Leopold is one of the three current Belgian national honorary orders of knighthood. It is the oldest and highest order of Belgium and is named in honour of its founder, King Leopold I.

Influenced by producer Al Van Dam—who also worked with the Antwerp group 'De Strangers', among others—he subsequently established himself as a teller of jokes. During the 1960s and 1970s, he released a number of successful LPs featuring his jokes.

He began performing at the age of eleven, and early in his career, he appeared primarily as an entertainer and singer of popular songs—including "Oh, wat zijde gij schoon" and "Charel, ik heb oe kat gezien," the latter of which topped the Flemish charts for several weeks in early 1956.