Henri ter Hall

Biography

Revue artist and politician Henri ter Hall began his career, while still a teenager, in the naval band in Den Helder. After a fracas involving the comic imitation of a superior, he left the Navy and travelled with a company to carnivals.

Ter Hall’s comic talent was soon noticed, and in 1892 he got the chance to work for the Victoria variety theatre in Amsterdam. At the turn of the century, Ter Hall had his breakthrough as a revue artist. His first small revue, ‘Naar de Tentoonstelling’, premiered in Amsterdam in 1898. At the time, revues were still something of a novelty in the Netherlands. More productions followed, but his first full-length revue did not happen until 1907. By that point, his revue company had grown to seventy members. In the years up until 1927, all of the major comedians and entertainers were at some point connected to this company.

Because his revues gave the audience what they wanted, Ter Hall was doing very well financially; the performances were relatively inoffensive, and elaborately costumed.

In an attempt to garner more recognition for the profession of being an artist, Ter Hall wound up in politics. He founded the Neutral Party, and in 1917 became a city councillor in Rijswijk. From that moment on, he no longer appeared in his own revues. When he won a seat in the House of Commons in 1918, he transferred the daily management of the company to his brother, Johan Köhler.

In the elections of 1925, Ter Hall lost his seat, and again began concentrating on his revue company, which had since encountered new competition from Louis Bouwmeester’s company. The fear of being defeated by Bouwmeester caused Ter Hall to decide to disband his company in 1928.

In 1929, Ter Hall made his final attempt to get elected with his party, but when that failed, he became a member of the rightist-conservative party Verbond voor Nationaal Herstel  in 1934. From 1935 to 1939, he represented the party in the town council of Rijswijk.

Ter Hall's last performance was a solo performance for mobilized Dutch soldiers in Rijswijk. He died of pneumonia in 1944 at age 78.