Actor Joop Dikmans, hearing-impaired con B2 of Bassie and Adriaan, has died

Actor Joop Dikmans has died at the age of 92. What does he say to his nephew NH News. Dikmans was best known for his role in Bassie and Adrian as con man B2, who was hard of hearing. He died in his sleep last week.

From the late 1940s to the late 1980s, Dikmans performed regularly in Dutch and Belgian circuses as the clown Handy Fool. He regularly shared the stage with his wife Trudy. Also, he has been seen as a stand-up comedian in stage shows.

Yet most know Dikmans as B2, one of the most striking villains in the children’s series Bassie and Adrian. B2 had a hat and a bushy mustache. He heard almost nothing, but he himself claimed not to be deaf.

Together with his henchman Vlugge Japie and leader De Baron, B2 chased Bassie and Adriaan for three series. Dikmans had taken over this role in the late 1980s from his brother Harry Dikmans who had played the role in the first two series.

B2’s hearing loss has often led to comical misunderstandings with his fellow villains throughout the series, often involving him exclaiming “what a jeggie?” called. Dikmans played the role of B2 in The secret of the treasure (1987), The Lost Crown (1988) a The sunken city (1989).

Dikmans (right) who, as cheater B2, made the well-known statement “what about?” He’s doing:

Dikmans’ three grandchildren affectionately referred to him as a scoundrel grandfather. “We’ve all seen Bassie and Adriaan, so we’ve seen it on television at a young age,” grandson Rick Hof tells NH News. “From my mother’s stories I know that I have always recognized my grandfather despite his crook costume. I was about 4 years old, but he never deceived me”.

And he wasn’t just a clown on stage. “Grandpa Boef was the teller of jokes,” says Hof. fun.”

When his wife Trudy was still alive, Dikmans always made donuts for the whole neighborhood on New Year’s Eve, says his nephew. “The whole neighborhood really came down to this. My grandfather and grandmother were very popular. There was always jokes and jokes with those two.”

The death of his wife Trudy twenty years ago affected Dikmans deeply. In a 2011 portrait of his life, he himself said: “We lived very close. Since she died, I don’t really care anymore. Not even my clown stuff and instruments. But I don’t want to get rid of that either”.

“When Grandma died, part of him died too,” says his grandson. “They traveled all over the world together for the circus and often lived together 24/7 on ten square meters. This was also noticeable in the deep bond between them. The example of a beautiful marriage.”

A few months ago, Dikmans was told he was suffering from dementia, Hof says. ‘His heart and lungs were perfectly healthy, but his brain shrank. He lived independently for a long time, but was no longer able to able to do it myself”.

Dikmans was due to be transferred from a rehabilitation center to a care home in Heerhugowaard last week, but his family were told the night before that he had died in his sleep. “His old age doesn’t diminish the sadness we all feel. This loss is never easy.”

Joop Dikmans will be cremated next Friday in the presence of his family.