Max Tailleur

Vocation

Traits

Dutch-Jewish comedian, who became known for his Sam and "Moos" Moshe Witze. He was born into a modest family in the Jewish Jordaan quarter of Amsterdam. His father, Hijman Tailleur (19 March 1884, Amsterdam - Sobibor), was a travelling salesman and manufacturer. His mother, Schoontje Erwteman (13 May 1885, Amsterdam - 3 June 1945, Antwerpen), was a housewife. He did not well at school, but tried to amuse others instead. Serious jobs as a travelling salesman at age 14 and as diamond cutter in Antwerp (1926) became failures. He wanted to become a cabaret player, even if it could not make him rich. He started his career in Antwerp, but after seven years he returned home with pleurisy and pneumonia. Again, he worked as a salesman, later as a cabaret writer. On 23 March 1936 he married Sophia Wijnschenk (19 April 1908, Amsterdam - 24 August 1990, Amsterdam). They got no children. In World War II he tried to escape to Enland, but stranded in a Swiss Camp Cossonay. Later he performed for the military and after WW2, he became writer for comedians like Snip and Snap. On 7 November 1952 Tailleur started the Cabaret "De Doofpot" (Cover-up) in a pub at the Rembrand square in Amsterdam. For health reasons he had to stop in the late sixties, but in 1971 he began the "Gein" (Joke) Line, where people could call to hear a recording of the joke of the day. At his death, Max Tailleur left a card system with some 50,000 jokes. His motto was: I laugh to keep from crying. He died 12 October 1990 in Amstelveen. In 2010 Jan Luitzen published his biography: "Max Tailleur - mijn leven was geen mop" (Max Tailleur - my life was not a joke). Link to Dutch Wikipedia