Introduction
Hendrikus Josephus Anthonius (Henny) Huisman, born June 18, 1951 in Zaandam, is a Dutch television presenter, former drummer and former singer. He gained fame in the Netherlands as the presenter of the popular television programs Soundmixshow and Surpriseshow.
Henny Huisman was born as the son of Harmen Huisman and Elisabeth Maria Dijkstra and grew up in a Catholic family. After his education at the window dressing school, he started his career as a drummer, disc jockey and event presenter. Eventually he moved to television and made his name there.
Henny Huisman's musical career began in 1961, when, at the age of 10, he became a member of the guitar combo The Bright Stars, which also featured Margriet Eshuijs. After playing in the teenage band The Marileens for a few years, he moved on to more serious work in 1972. Together with two others, Huisman founded the Zaanse band Lucifer, in which he played the drums. The band was a guest on the television program Van Oekel's Discohoek on March 18, 1975, which was also Henny Huisman's first television appearance. After his departure from Lucifer, where Doe Maar drummer Jan Pijnenburg succeeded him, Huisman played in the band Match for a while. He also became active as a disc jockey in discos, which earned him an award as the best disc jockey. In 2014, Huisman was a guest artist during the Toppers concerts in the Amsterdam ArenA.
Early life and education
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Career trajectory
During his work in discos, Henny Huisman had visitors imitate famous artists, which was so popular that he further developed the idea into a television program. He approached several broadcasters, but at first his concept was not taken seriously. Huisman was discovered by Joop van den Ende during a concert, when he announced the singer André Hazes in the AZ football stadium in Alkmaar.
Van den Ende was impressed and offered Huisman the opportunity to present the KRO program De Zomeravondshow, which also created space for artists who imitated well-known singers. This idea turned out to be such a success that it quickly grew into the popular full-length Playback show. From that moment on, Huisman presented more and more television programs, often based on the Playbackshow theme, the ideas of which he often came up with himself. Some of these programs were Sound Mix Show, Mini Playback Show (with the 'Joke Drum'), Sterren Playback Show, Surprise Show, Hartengala and Wie is Wie?.
Initially for the KRO, later he switched to RTL 4. In 2002, Huisman celebrated his twentieth anniversary in television and published a book, Zappen met mijn, in which he shared his experiences in show business. A year later he presented a program for the EO for the first time, Henny seeks God, in which he talked to Dutch Christians. In 2005 he presented the program Huize Huisman from Bonaire. Between 2007 and 2009, Huisman also appeared in Korenslag, a singing competition for choirs. At the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008 he was active as a jury member in the Flemish TV program Steracteur SterArtist.
Legacy and future
In 2003, Henny Huisman lent his voice to the role of Enco in the Dutch version of Finding Nemo. In 2007 he had a guest role in the Sinterklaas news, where he acted as conductor of De Kamper Koggezangers. He was also seen in the same program in 2018, this time as Hendrik Haan from Koog aan de Zaan. In 2013, Huisman played the role of Captain Light Bluebeard in the film Piet Pirate en het zeemonster. In 2021 he was seen as a newsreader in the feature film De Grote Sinterklaasfilm: Trammelant in Spain. In 2022, Huisman had two guest roles: in the films Heart in the right place and De Bellinga's: House on stilts.
After twelve years at RTL 4, Huisman moved to SBS6, where he was given a regular role in the television and radio program Veronica Inside in January 2019. He visited people who felt offended by the program's presenters. In 2020 he presented the program Waar is dat party? for SBS6. In September 2023, Huisman made his return to television in Better late than never on SBS6, in which he traveled through Asia together with Frits Barend, Edwin Rutten and Ad Visser, led by presenter Estavana Polman.
Henny Huisman regularly appeared in television commercials. He won the Loden Leeuw twice, a prize for the most annoying Dutch celebrity in a commercial. In 2008 he received the prize for his role in advertising from the National Postcode Lottery. In 2021, Huisman received the Loden Leeuw for the second time, this time with 48% of the votes, for his performance in the Meubelzorg advertisement. In this commercial he surprised a woman with a check from Meubelzorg and shouted: "Surprise!" Many voters regarded the commercial as a play and felt that Huisman used his success from the Surprise show too much to shine in the commercial.
References
Over the years, Henny Huisman has received several prestigious prizes and awards for his work in the music and television industries. Some of the most important are:
- Golden Microphone (1968)
- Gold record for As we Are (1975) with the band Lucifer
- Eye-Pen and Ear Prize from the Platenbon Foundation (1986)
- Gold record for Later when you grow up (1987)
- Gold record for Hey, are you coming with me? (1988)
- 1st place Popularity Prize Story Award (1990-1991)
- Golden Televizier Ring for the Soundmix Playback Show (1985)
- Golden Televizier Ring for the Surprise Show (1988)
- Golden Globe for the Soundmixshow Portugal (1996)
- TROS Monument Prize (1997)
- Gouden Tros TV Ster for TV personality, Soundmix show, Surprise show and Mini-playback show (1993)
- Unveiling Bronze Sculpture (1996)
- Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau (1997)
- 1st White Honorary Citizen of Bonaire (1998)
- North Holland Popularity Award (1999)
- Spelderholt Award (1999)
- Golden Certificate Conamus Foundation (2001)
- Glamor Award in the Television category (2008)
These awards reflect his multifaceted contributions to both the music and television worlds.