Wim Sonneveld was born on 28 June 1917 in
Utrecht, Netherlands, to Gerrit Sonneveld and Geertruida van den Berg. In 1922, at a very young age, he lost his mother. After his time at school, where he was the class clown, he had a few unsuccessful jobs. In 1932, he started singing in an amateur choir, the
Keep Smiling Singers, after which he teamed up with
Fons Goossens in 1934 to form a duo and perform at anniversaries of associations and institutions. Later that year, he met reviewer
Huub Janssen and after a journey through France in 1936 they started living together in Amsterdam, at first on the Westermarkt, later on the Prinsengracht. In that same year, he worked for
Louis Davids. During the day he worked as an administrator and in evening he played small roles and sang
chansons. In that same period, he performed with his partner Huub in his own club,
De Rarekiek. In 1937, he sang in "cabarets" (floor shows in nightclubs) with
Suzy Solidor and
Agnes Capri in France. After the
declaration of war of 1940, Sonneveld returned to the Netherlands, where he acted in plays and in the
revue of
Loekie Bouwmeester. In 1940, he performed in the
Theater der Prominenten and at
Abraham van der Vies'
De Sprookjesspelers. Here he met
Conny Stuart. In 1943, he formed his own association, consisting among others of Conny Stuart,
Lia Dorana,
Albert Mol,
Joop Doderer,
Hetty Blok and
Emmy Arbous. Sonneveld was gay, though not openly, as it would have been unacceptable during that era. ==Death==