Ronnie Tober

Early life in America

Tober was born in Bussum, Netherlands, and at the age of three moved to the United States with his family, where they lived in Albany, the capital of the State of New York. Attending St. Peter's Episcopal Church was a soprano soloist.

Invited to appear on "The Teen Age Barn", a television show on the CBS affiliate WRGB, he performed every week for several years. During this time he appeared as a guest of singer Perry Como on television where they performed O Holy Night. He was also to guest star on the CBS series Route 66 with George Maharis and Martin Milner and appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Tober went on to perform for several notable people including the then Senator John F. Kennedy, Vice-President Richard Nixon along with W. Averell Harriman and Nelson Rockefeller, both Governors of New York.

Tober played the role of Tony in the musical The Boy Friend and Billy Jester in Little Mary Sunshine. Introduced to songwriter/record producer Bob Crewe, Tober recorded his first record in 1959 entitled Who Taught You How To Love.

Return to the Netherlands

In 1963 while in the Netherlands to visit his grandmother he appeared on the "Off The Cuff" a television show hosted by Willem Duys. Based on the reaction to his performance he decided to return and live in the Netherlands. He signed with Phonogram/Philips and produced his first Dutch record Iedere Avond (Every Night) in 1964.

In 1966 he was a winner at the Sopot International Song Festival in Sopot, Poland, for his medley, Showtime on Broadway. Tober performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London as the Netherlands representative in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 and finished 16th with the song Morgen.

Tober has had TV shows on both AVRO and KRO and his guests have included Vikki Carr, Roger Whittaker and Nancy Wilson.

Personal life

Jan Jochems, who Tober has been with since 1968, and Tober were married on 24 February 1998. In 1999 Tober was diagnosed with bladder cancer and underwent chemotherapy.

On 27 December 2003, during his 40th year in show business, Tober was made a Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. Tober's name is also inscribed on the Wall of Fame at the Zuiderkerk ("southern church") in Amsterdam.

Philanthropic work

In 2002 he started the "Ronnie Tober Foundation" to help assist people who have a developmental disability through cultural and musical works. He has also participated in the 2006 International Four Days Marches Nijmegen in Nijmegen, the march was cancelled after the first day due to the 2006 European heat wave. In 2007 Tober, Jochems and friends completed the 160 km march and were able to raise € 10,000 for his foundation. The money will be used to take 50 children to Euro Disney.