Jeroen Krabbé

The recorded working language is Dutch, German and English. Places of work recorded in the authority are Amsterdam. Work by Jeroen Krabbé is recorded in the collections of ASR art collection, Jewish Museum, Eye Filmmuseum, Museum de Fundatie and Anne Frank House. Distinctions recorded are Golden Calf Culture Prize, Frans Banninck Cocq Penning and Commander of the Order of the Netherlands Lion.

Krabbé was born into an artistic family in Amsterdam. Both his father, Maarten Krabbé, and grandfather Hendrik Maarten Krabbé were well-known painters, and his mother Margreet (née Reiss; 1914–2002), was a film translator. His brother, Tim, is a writer and top-level chess player, and his half-brother, Mirko, is an artist. Only later in life did he learn that his mother was Jewish and that her family had been killed during the Holocaust.

Internationally, he first came to prominence in fellow Dutchman Paul Verhoeven's films, Soldier of Orange opposite Rutger Hauer and The Fourth Man with Renée Soutendijk. His first big American film was the Whoopi Goldberg comedy, Jumpin' Jack Flash. However, it was his roles as villains in a string of international films from the late 1980s and early 1990s which brought him international stardom, with notable roles such as Losado in No Mercy (1986), General Georgi Koskov in the James Bond film The Living Daylights (1987), Gianni Franco in The Punisher (1989), Herbert Woodruff in The Prince of Tides (1991), and Dr. Charles Nichols in The Fugitive (1993). He appeared in numerous TV productions, and as Satan in the TV production Jesus. He was both director and producer of a 1998 film about Orthodox Jews during the 1970s in Antwerp, Belgium, co-starring Isabella Rossellini and Maximilian Schell called Left Luggage, as well as the Harry Mulisch novel adapted into film The Discovery of Heaven. Left Luggage was entered into the 48th Berlin International Film Festival. The following year, he was a member of the jury at the 49th Berlin International Film Festival. His television work included playing an uncanny psychic in the Midsomer Murders series 11 episode "Talking to the Dead". Krabbé had an exhibition of his paintings in Museum de Fundatie (Zwolle), in 2008. He began working on documentaries for Dutch television about his favorite painters. In 2015 the first series was about Van Gogh, followed in 2017 by a series about Picasso, in 2018 about Gauguin and in 2020, about Chagall and in August 2022, about Frida Kahlo. In November 2024 a series about Matisse was broadcast.

Krabbé married Herma van Gemert in 1964. Together they have three sons – Martijn (who is a radio and television presenter), Jasper and Jacob. Apart from acting and directing, he is an accomplished artist (his paintings have appeared on Dutch postage stamps), and has co-authored a Dutch cookbook. In November 2004, he released the book Schilder, which is an overview of his paintings.

Het Dagboek van Anne Frank (TV movie 1985) Left Luggage (1998) The Discovery of Heaven (2001)