I have obtained these through various articles, through the net, and even in the screenplay notes of A World Apart. Please e-mail me if you know of anything else about the talented Mr. Krabbe, and a special thanks to those who provided me with various articles.
*(Starting with the obvious)He was born on December 5, 1944 in Amsterdam.
* His father was an artist and his mother subtitles imported films. Jeroen learned English this way and also developed a fondness for movies and acting.
*His childhood heroes included James Dean, Rock Hudson and Montgomery Clift, and he was very fond of the film Giant.
*He has one brother, Tim (short for Hans Maarten Timathus Krabbe, or something close to that) who older by one year, and is also involved in the entertainment business, aside from being a successful novelist and chess player. Credits include The Vanishing, which he wrote both screenplays for.
*He was raised as an Atheist, but his mother is of Jewish decent.
*He married wife Herma at the age of 21, but he first met her when he was nine, and again when he was 16. She was not interested because he was "as fat as an elephant." She is now a Social Worker.
*He intended to be a painter and even studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, but later he changed his mind and enrolled at the Toneel Drama School in Amsterdam. At 17, he was the youngest student ever to do so.
*Jeroen became a major theater star in the Netherlands by the age of 20. He later formed his own theater group, which perfomred Dutch versions of Sleuth and A Day in the Death of Joe Egg among other things.
*Jeroen has starred in numerous short films since the 1960's, icluding 1991's Sahara Sandwich, which was shot in only three days.
*Aside from a successful film career, Jeroen was a familiar face to Dutch theater and he has even directed several plays, such as The Diary of Anne Frank, in which he co-starred as her father.
*In Left Luggage, Jeroen's cinematic directorial debut, he also co-stars as the father, though he had first intended only to direct.
*He used Left Luggage as a way to get in touch with his Jewish history, and when he brought his mother to the premiere, she was so moved that she cried.
*Left Luggage is the thrid film in which Jeroen and Isabella Rossellini have acted together, though it could have been the fourth. Sundance Project, was to be their first effort and was in the works in 1987, but it never took off.
*Jeroen was also set to star in Michael Cimino's The Sicilian, but had to drop out in order to take part in The Living Daylights.
*Before he began acting abroad, Jeroen had gained much attention in the Netherlands with roles in such films as Soldaat van Oranje,A Flight of Rainbirds and particularly in Paul Verhoeven's The Fourth Man, in which he earned acclaim from critics all over the world.
*Jeroen not only starred in the 1981 Dutch smash hit A Flight of Rainbirds, but he played a dual role as a lonely scientist and his alter-ego. However, Jeroen nearly lost the role for being "too sexy."Fortunately he was kept, and the film, which cost only $300,000 to shoot grossed over $4 million before it had played overseas.
* Others may have consdiered Jeroen to be "too sexy", but he views his appearance as "quirky" and was startled after seeinf himself in Soldier of Orange. He thought he was "absolutely ugly."
