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The Most Famous

ACTORS from Netherlands

This page contains a list of the greatest Dutch Actors. The pantheon dataset contains 9,996 Actors, 28 of which were born in Netherlands. This makes Netherlands the birth place of the 29th most number of Actors behind South Africa and Hungary.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Dutch Actors of all time. This list of famous Dutch Actors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Dutch Actors.

1. Rutger Hauer (1944 - 2019)

With an HPI of 70.48, Rutger Hauer is the most famous Dutch Actor. His biography has been translated into 59 different languages on wikipedia.

Rutger Oelsen Hauer (Dutch: [ˈrʏtxər ˈulsə(n) ˈɦʌuər]; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century. Hauer's career began in 1969 with the title role in the Dutch television series Floris and surged with his leading role in Turkish Delight (1973), which in 1999 was named the Best Dutch Film of the Century. After gaining international recognition with Soldier of Orange (1977) and Spetters (1980), he moved into American films such as Nighthawks (1981) and Blade Runner (1982), starring in the latter as self-aware replicant Roy Batty. His performance in Blade Runner led to roles in The Osterman Weekend (1983), Ladyhawke (1985), The Hitcher (1986), The Legend of the Holy Drinker (1988), and Blind Fury (1989), among other films. From the 1990s on, Hauer moved into low-budget films, and supporting roles in major films like Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992), Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), Batman Begins (2005), Sin City (2005), and The Rite (2011). Hauer also became well known for his work in commercials. Towards the end of his career, he made a return to Dutch cinema, and won the 2012 Rembrandt Award for Best Actor in recognition of his lead role in The Heineken Kidnapping (2011). Hauer supported environmentalist causes and was a member of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. He also founded the Rutger Hauer Starfish Association, an AIDS awareness organization. He was made a knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion in 2013.

2. Sylvia Kristel (1952 - 2012)

With an HPI of 66.49, Sylvia Kristel is the 2nd most famous Dutch Actor. Her biography has been translated into 50 different languages.

Sylvia Maria Kristel (28 September 1952 – 17 October 2012) was a Dutch actress and model who appeared in over 50 films. She is best remembered as the eponymous character in five of the seven Emmanuelle films, including originating the role with Emmanuelle (1974).

3. Famke Janssen (1964 - )

With an HPI of 61.82, Famke Janssen is the 3rd most famous Dutch Actor. Her biography has been translated into 61 different languages.

Famke Beumer Janssen (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈfɑmkə ˈbøːmər ˈjɑnsə(n)]; born 5 November 1964) is a Dutch actress. She played Xenia Onatopp in GoldenEye (1995), Jean Grey / Phoenix in the X-Men film series (2000–2014), and Lenore Mills in the Taken film trilogy (2008–2014). In 2008, she was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for Integrity by the United Nations. She made her directorial debut with Bringing Up Bobby in 2011. She is also known for her roles in the Netflix original series Hemlock Grove (2013–2015), FX's Nip/Tuck (2003–2010), and ABC's How to Get Away with Murder (2014–2020). Janssen starred in the 2017 NBC crime thriller The Blacklist: Redemption.

4. Jeroen Krabbé (1944 - )

With an HPI of 60.78, Jeroen Krabbé is the 4th most famous Dutch Actor. His biography has been translated into 32 different languages.

Jeroen Aart Krabbé (Dutch pronunciation: [jəˈrun ˈaːrt krɑˈbeː]; born 5 December 1944) is a Dutch actor and film director with a successful career in both Dutch- and English-language films. He is best known to international audiences for his leading roles in the Paul Verhoeven films Soldier of Orange (1977) and The Fourth Man (1983), for playing the villain General Georgi Koskov in the James Bond film The Living Daylights (1987) and his parts in The Prince of Tides (1991), The Fugitive (1993), and Immortal Beloved (1994). His 1998 directorial debut, Left Luggage, was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 49th Berlin International Film Festival.

5. Johannes Heesters (1903 - 2011)

With an HPI of 58.52, Johannes Heesters is the 5th most famous Dutch Actor. His biography has been translated into 51 different languages.

Johan Marius Nicolaas Heesters (5 December 1903 – 24 December 2011), known professionally as Johannes Heesters, was a Dutch actor of stage, television and film, as well as a vocalist of numerous recordings and performer on the concert stage with a career dating back to the 1920s. He worked as an actor until his death and is one of the oldest performing entertainers in history, performing shortly before his death at the age of 108. Heesters was almost exclusively active in the German-speaking world from the mid-1930s and became a film star in Nazi Germany, which later led to controversy in his native country. He was able to maintain his popularity in Germany in the decades until his death.

6. Carel Struycken (1948 - )

With an HPI of 56.78, Carel Struycken is the 6th most famous Dutch Actor. His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Carel Struycken (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈkaːrəl ˈstrœy̯kə(n)]; born 30 July 1948) is a Dutch actor. He is known for playing the Giant/Fireman in the television series Twin Peaks (1990–1991, 2017), the occasional guest role of Mr. Homn in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1992), and the household butler Lurch in the 1990s Addams Family films. He also appeared in the films Gerald's Game (2017) and Doctor Sleep (2019).

7. Nina Foch (1924 - 2008)

With an HPI of 51.42, Nina Foch is the 7th most famous Dutch Actor. Her biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Nina Foch ( FOSH; born Nina Consuelo Maud Fock; April 20, 1924 – December 5, 2008) was an American actress who later became an instructor. Her career spanned 6 decades, consisting of over 50 feature films and over 100 television credits. She was the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, and a National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress. Foch established herself as a dramatic actress in the late 1940s, often playing cool, aloof sophisticates. Born in Leiden, Netherlands in 1924, Foch immigrated to the United States with her mother while still a toddler, and was raised in New York City. After signing a contract with Columbia Pictures at age 19, Foch became a regular in the studio's horror pictures and film noirs, starring in such films as The Return of the Vampire (1943), Escape in the Fog, and My Name Is Julia Ross (1945). She concurrently embarked on a stage career, making her Broadway debut as the titular Mary in 1947's John Loves Mary. She subsequently starred in several Broadway productions of William Shakespeare plays, including Twelfth Night (1949), King Lear (1950), and Measure for Measure (1955). Foch gained widespread notice for her role as Milo Roberts in the musical film An American in Paris (1951); Robert Wise's drama Executive Suite (1954), which earned her the Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress; Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1956); and Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus (1960). In 1967, she made her theatrical directorial debut with a Broadway production of Ways and Means, a comedy by Noël Coward. Foch also worked extensively in television beginning in the 1950s, with notable roles including the victim in the first of Peter Falk's Columbo films in 1968, as well as guest-starring parts in Checkmate (1961), Naked City (1962), The Wild Wild West (1969), The F.B.I. (1970), and Hawaii Five-O (1973). In 1980, she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress for her guest role on an episode of Lou Grant. Beginning in the 1960s, Foch began a concurrent career as an educator, teaching courses in drama and film directing at the American Film Institute and at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts, where she was a faculty member for over 40 years. Among her students were directors Randal Kleiser and Edward Zwick. and performer Julie Andrews. Foch continued to teach until the end of her life, up until her death in December 2008 of myelodysplastic syndrome.

8. Fons Rademakers (1920 - 2007)

With an HPI of 51.34, Fons Rademakers is the 8th most famous Dutch Actor. His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Alphonse Marie "Fons" Rademakers (5 September 1920 – 22 February 2007) was a Dutch actor, film director, film producer and screenwriter.

9. Carice van Houten (1976 - )

With an HPI of 50.79, Carice van Houten is the 9th most famous Dutch Actor. Her biography has been translated into 39 different languages.

Carice Anouk van Houten (Dutch pronunciation: [kaːˈris(ə) aːˈnuk fɑn ˈɦʌutə(n)]; born 5 September 1976) is a Dutch actress. Her first leading role in the television film Suzy Q (1999) won her the Golden Calf for Best Acting in a Television Drama; two years later, she won the Golden Calf for Best Actress for Miss Minoes (2001). She gained widespread recognition for her performance in Black Book (2006), the most commercially successful Dutch film to date, for which she won her second Golden Calf for Best Actress, in addition to nominations from the Chicago Film Critics Association, the European Film Academy, and the Online Film Critics Society. She was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress for Valkyrie (2008), and won her fourth and fifth Golden Calf Awards for Best Actress for The Happy Housewife (2010) and Black Butterflies (2011). Her other notable English-language performances include Repo Men (2010), Black Death (2010), and Brimstone (2016). Van Houten received international recognition for her role as Melisandre on the HBO television series Game of Thrones (2012–2019), for which she received nominations for two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series.

10. Herman van Veen (1945 - )

With an HPI of 50.75, Herman van Veen is the 10th most famous Dutch Actor. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Hermannus Jantinus van Veen (born 14 March 1945) is a Dutch stage performer, actor, author, singer-songwriter and musician. He worked with accompanists Laurens van Rooyen and Erik van der Wurff, both were pianist annex composer. In addition to performing internationally, van Veen is famous as the creator of Alfred J. Kwak (1976). The original one-man theatre show was adapted as a Dutch-German-Japanese cartoon (1989), which was broadcast internationally. In addition to creating the show's story, van Veen also wrote, composed and performed most of the show's music. He also performed the voice-overs for the characters Johan Sebastian Kwak, Krabnagel de Kater and Professor Paljas (Professor Buffon) in the Dutch and German versions of Alfred J. Kwak.

People

Pantheon has 28 people classified as actors born between 1881 and 1984. Of these 28, 21 (75.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living actors include Famke Janssen, Jeroen Krabbé, and Carel Struycken. The most famous deceased actors include Rutger Hauer, Sylvia Kristel, and Johannes Heesters. As of April 2022, 3 new actors have been added to Pantheon including Renée Soutendijk, Thekla Reuten, and Katja Herbers.