Willeke van Ammelrooy

Biography

Willeke van Ammelrooy graduated from the Amsterdam Theatre School in 1964. After a number of years on stage, she made her film debut in the short Een winterliefde by Frans Rasker. A year later she played the lead in Mira, a successful Dutch film directed by Fons Rademakers. She developed into one of the Netherlands' best-known and greatest actresses thanks to roles in films such as Frank en Eva (Pim de la Parra, 1973), Antonia (Marleen Gorris, 1995) and De verlossing (Hugo Claus, 2001).

Prior to her film debut, Van Ammelrooy acted in television series including 't Schaep met vijf poten (1969-1970). She was also in television shows such as Voorlopig Vonnis (1972), Maya (1982) and Het glazen huis (2004). Van Ammelrooy debuted as a director in 1994 with the film Een vlinder tilt de kat op, for which she also wrote the screenplay.

Willeke van Ammelrooy is married to the opera singer Marco Bakker.