John van Dreelen

Biography

John van Dreelen was born in Amstedam to the well-known stage actor Louis Gimberg. After high school, Van Dreelen found himself at the theatre group Residentie Tooneel where he made his debut in 1941. After going into hiding during the Second World War, he went to Cabaret De Koplamp, but in 1949 he went to London at the invitation of Sir Laurence Olivier. In 1951 he played in Monte Carlo Baby (Jean Boyer and Lester Fuller) with Audrey Hepburn.

In 1957, Van Dreelen left for the United States, where he played in A Time to Love and a Time to Die (Douglas Sirk, 1958), The Flying Fontaines (George Sherman, 1959), 13 Ghosts (William Castle, 1960), Topaz (Alfred Hitchcock, 1969) and The Money Pit (Richard Benjamin, 1986). He also acted in the Dutch films Rufus, Zoeken naar Eileen and the Belgian-Dutch co-production, Mascara.

Besides having acted in countless films, he was also had many supporting roles on television, including in Dynasty, Falcon Crest, Evita Peron, Wonder Woman, Charlie's Angels, The FBI and The Mod Squad.