Biography

Cor Ruys (1889-1952) was a Dutch actor, stage director, comedian and cabaret artist. Though mainly active in theatre, Ruys occasionally starred in films as well. In 1905, Ruys started his acting career at the Nederlandsche Tooneelvereeniging of Adriaan van der Horst; initially as a volunteer, but after only three months he got a permanent commitment. It was here that he achieved his first success with an improvised imitation of the then popular operetta star August Kiehl. His stage career took off soon after and he achieved successes working with acclaimed stage directors such as Gustave Prot, Eduard Verkade and Nap de la Mar. During his career he toured the Dutch East Indies several times, as an actor, but from 1919 on also as a director with his own company. From 1922 to 1924, he was the lead director at the Princesseschouwburg in The Hague. For his acclaimed staging of the piece Mademoiselle Bourat by Claude Anet, he was named Officer in the Ordre des Palmes académiques. Several years later he was also named officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau. In the 1920s/30s his collaborations with Louis de Bree enjoyed great popularity. The two starred together in the extremely popular feature film The Cross-Patch by Henry Koster, which played in Dutch cinemas for no less than seven years and proved a commercial success in the United Kingdom as well.