Ahmad Syech Albar was born in
Cilegon,
West Java (today in
Banten province) on 27 September 1927 to Rintrik Achmad and his wife. As a child he was known as a class clown, often joking and winking. Although his father wanted him to be a doctor or an engineer, Albar decided to be an entertainer. At the age of twelve he began singing in the Terang Boelan orchestra in 1939. In 1944, he joined the Pantja Warna stage group and travelled through
Yogyakarta,
Malang and
Surabaya. Albar took the name Bing Slamet in 1948 as a tribute to
Bing Crosby, whom he respected; Bing was a reference to Crosby, and Slamet was his own nickname. Aside from singing, he also began to participate in comedy, forming the "Los Gilos" comic group together with Tjepot and Udel. On 29 July 1953, he won a comedy competition in the
Jakarta Art Building, which gave him the nickname "Bintang Pelawak" ("
Star of Comedians"), and two years later he was chosen as the best radio entertainer by the
Radio Republik Indonesia branch in Jakarta. He eventually came on friendly terms with then-President
Sukarno. Aside from comedy, Slamet also was active in acting and songwriting. In 1949 he performed in his first film,
Mohammad Said Hamid Junid's
Menanti Kasih (
Waiting for my Love). His first starring role was in 1955's
Di Simpang Jalan (
At the Intersection). His later movies were mainly comedies. After founding Safari Sinar Sakti Film, he used his power as a producer to become one of the first Indonesian actors with his name embedded in a film's title; this became a trend during the 1970s. He also formed the band Eka Sapta with Yamin Widjaja, the founder of
Musica Studios; together they were one of the dominant Indonesian bands in the 1960s and 70s. During his career, he played in 17 films and "dozens" of albums. His most popular film was
Bing Slamet Koboi Cengeng (
Bing Slamet the Crybaby Cowboy), which was seen by 530 thousand people during its initial run in 1974. ==Personal life==