Trivia

He was an actor and director with the theatre group of Staf Bruggen and the writer of, among other things, a collection of One-Act Plays (1931) and Kabaretschlager (1944).

After the liberation of Belgium in 1944-1945, Grassin became involved in a trial concerning Brussels radio. On May 17, 1947, he was sentenced to three years in prison. Afterward, he continued writing for a while under a pseudonym.

Renaat completed his Greek-Latin humanities at the O.-L.-V.-College in Tienen and then studied Germanic philology for a while at the University of Leuven. He worked at the Forminière, the Crédit Anversois, as a notary, and later at the Ministry of Public Education, where he translated for the Staatsblad (State Gazette).

In 2005, he finished at number 604 in the Flemish version of De Grootste Belg (The Greatest Belgian), outside the official nomination list.

Renaat Grassin was a Brussels cabaret artist and actor who became famous as "het Ketje", which refers to his Brussels origins.

His breakthrough came in 1930 when Grassin made a Brussels adaptation of Boefje, a Dutch play by M.J. Brusse, starring himself. He would reprise the role for decades, and the character of Boefje merged with that of Ketje.

In 1927 his stage career began at the Flemish People's Theatre.

Grassin also played roles in a number of films, including "Moeder, wat zijn we rijk" (= Mother, How Rich We Are) in 1957.

From 1935 onwards, he collaborated with De Blinkende Zonnekloppers, a radio cabaret program modeled on the Dutch program De bonte Dinsdagavondtrein. Grassin played the role of Het Ketje (= Ketje or ket is a Brussels word for child or boy, more specifically a street urchin). After the outbreak of the war, the radio program was discontinued, but Grassin remained active at "Zender Brussel" as Het Ketje.

From 1953 to 1964, Grassin took part in the radio cabaret programme Kop en Staart on the NIR, later VRT. He once again played Ketje, among other characters. Shortly after the last broadcast of Kop en staart he died in Ekeren.