Katja Schuurman

Katja Schuurman
Born (1975-02-19) 19 February 1975
Bunnik, Netherlands
Other names Katja Römer
Occupation Actress, singer, presenter
Years active 1992-present
Spouse(s) Thijs Römer (2006-2015)

Katja Römer-Schuurman (born 19 February 1975) is a Dutch actress, singer, television personality and occasional VJ.

Early life

Katja Schuurman was born on 19 February 1975. She grew up in Bunnik as the eldest daughter of a Dutch father and a Chinese Surinamese mother from Curaçao; she has one younger sister, Birgit, who is a singer and an actress as well.

Acting career

The 1990s

Schuurman made her acting debut in 1992 on the television series Uit de school geklapt. Two years later she resurfaced in the RTL soap Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden (GTST) as Jessica, the eldest niece of one-time angry neighbour Govert Harmsen. Katja immediately rose to fame.

With two other characters from GTST she formed the spin-off girl group Linda, Roos & Jessica. Their debut single "Ademnood" (English version: "Turn Your Love Around'") topped the Dutch charts in late 1995.

The only disappointment in this successful year was the release of De Zeemeerman (The Merman); it failed to draw people to the cinemas and was voted the worst Dutch movie ever made.

Katja continued to release singles with both LR&J and on her own. She had hits with Maar nu heb ik er een, Wereldmeid, Totaal Verkocht and Lover or friend.

In 1999 her last GTST-scenes were shown while LR&J called it a day; their farewell single was aptly titled "1999 X". She ended the year by making the headlines for drink-driving.

The 2000s

In 2000 Katja played Frida in the Salou-based movie Costa! and found herself reunited with Georgina Verbaan, who played her sister Hedwig in Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden. Costa! premiered in 2001 and was successful enough to be adapted into a television series. Both Katja and Georgina left after two seasons.

Katja went on to host programs for BNN alongside Bridget Maasland, till the latter was signed up by Talpa in 2005. As a farewell present they made Katja vs. Bridget, a "Battle of the Babes"-type series. One of the challenges saw Katja recording a Christmas single with the innovative rap-trio De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig; it was the one exception to her decision not to pursue a singing career ("Lack of discipline" she told nl.20-magazine).

The next two years the formula was repeated for Katja vs. de Rest, replacing Bridget with other Dutch celebrities. Katja won both seasons, even though she failed to outsmart her own sister.

On 8 August 2006 Katja married actor Thijs Römer (grandson of actor Piet Römer) in Vallery, France. The couple, who first met on the set of television series Medea, went on to play the starring roles in Kapitein Rob en het Geheim van Professor Lupardi, a comic book adaptation that premiered on 26 November 2007.

In 2008 she swapped BNN for NET 5, starring in an adaptation of the newspaper comic S1ngle and reprising her Return to Sender documentary series.

On 26 March 2009 it was confirmed that Katja was almost three months pregnant with her first child but just one week later, on 1 April, she miscarried. 4 months later on 25 August it was confirmed she was pregnant again. On 22 April 2010 she gave birth to daughter Sammie.

From September 2014, she is presenting TV-programs for KRO-NCRV, in particular for NCRV.

She divorced actor Thijs Römer in February 2015.

Filmography

Television series as an actor

Television series as herself

Films

External links

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