August Kiehl

Biography

August Theodoor Cornelis ‘Guus’ Kiehl (1854-1938) was a Dutch comedian, actor, stage director and librettist. Son of actors H.G. Kiehl and Theodora Sophie Sablairolles, both working at the Royal Schouwburg in The Hague, August’s theatre career started there when he was in his early 20s. After the company disbanded, he went to Amsterdam and joined the company of Prot and Kistemaker. There he became one of the leading artists in Dutch operetta as one of the 'Three K's' (Kiehl, Kelly and Kreeft). In 1892 Kiehl became actor, director and writer for the Amsterdam Artis-Schouwburg, where he wrote and directed what might be his greatest success: ‘De Parel van Zaandam’ (‘The Pearl of Zaandam’), a three-act operetta set during Tzar Peter’s stay in the Netherlands. He remained active in theatre well into old age, performing at prestigious venues like the Salon des Variétés, the Rembrandt theatre, the Paleis voor Volksvlijt and Royal Theatre Carré. His most famous theatrical roles include Professor Moriarty in 'Sherlock Holmes', La Fleche in Molière's 'The Miser' and – his own personal favourite – Gaspard in 'The Bells of Corneville'. In his later years he appeared in several films; he made his screen debut at age 80 in ‘Op Hoop van Zegen’, and went on to appear in the popular ‘De Kribbebijter’ and Henk Kleinman's short film 'Oudjes'.