Jetty Paerl

Biography

Jetty Paerl was a Dutch singer and comedian, born in Amsterdam. Already during her high school period, this daughter of a film distributor sang in small orchestras. She went to London with her parents during World War II. There, Jetty sang in a cabaret group “De Watergeus”. They performed for Radio Oranje, the program that was broadcast via the BBC for the occupied Netherlands. Her stage name in those days was “Jetje van Radio Oranje” . The cabaret shows were canceled when the atmosphere in the Netherlands became too grim in 1942. Jetty continued to sing during the war, but exclusively with English orchestras. Back in the Netherlands, Jetty performed for Radio Herrijzend Nederland around 1944. She worked with, among others, the famous Vera Lynn.
After the war she continued to sing and perform with various orchestras. In 1953 she won the Knokke Festival with the song “Die ene maand van jou”. After that she sang for two years at the Sleeswijk Revue, after which she became the first ever candidate at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1956. Unfortunately the score for her song “De vogels van Holland” was never announced.
A year later, Jetty Paerl got her own radio show, “Paerlez-moi d’amour”. In this program she sang songs that were translated by Ernst van Altena. Even after the birth of her daughter in 1958, Paerl continued to sing for radio and television. In 1965 she appeared in a tv show following the engagement of Princess Margriet. In 1985 she hosted a liberation concert at De Doelen in Rotterdam.
Jetty Paerl made her last major theater tour in 1990. In the show “Van het een komt het ander” she sang and told about her life. Jetty Paerl was honored in 1993 with a stamp in a series about Radio Oranje.
Jetty Paerl died in Amstelveen on 22 august 2013.