Lou van Burg Der Goldene Schuss

Actor, Television Personality. He received recognition for years in the television entertainment business, mainly in the Federal Republic of Germany. Born Loetje van Weerdenburg and the son of a Dutch fur trader, he began his career in Paris, France singing in cabarets. From 1950 to 1953 while in Belgium, he was the pianist and romantic partner of American-born singer Josephine Baker. Then he traveled on to Austria before West Germany where he became an successful television personality and a household name with the game show host of "Der Goldene Schuss." Known as "Uncle Lou" or "Mr. Wunnebar" on the TV, he was nominated in 1962 and 1963 for the "Best TV Star" by German's Bravo Otto. His game show became a version of the "William Tell" story using a bow and arrow to hit a target. Scheduled on his 50th birthday, the 25th broadcast of his game show was in color from the Monte Carlo Casino on August 25, 1966 starring Grace Kelly, and in 1967, the show was adopted by the British TV network as the "Golden Shot." The same year, Van Burg was fired from the network as the press was spreading stories about his messy private life with details of his long-time marriage ending, a married girlfriend, and later, him suing the network after being fired. Although he asked for much more, he was awarded $70,000 but after his ordeal, he could find only little employment in the television business in Germany. During this, it was learned that a network employee's nephew was a high-stake winner on his game show leading to questions of someone's trust-worthiness. He did return to the TV screen in 1976 hosting several game shows, and in 1979 he was a host on a radio show on Radio Luxemburg, but his previous notoriety was gone. With bit or uncredited parts, he appeared in over a dozen TV movies or series from 1952 to 1985. He was in four episodes of "Foreign Intrigue" and two episodes in English of "Sherlock Holmes." He was given credit for directing and writing two episodes of the TV series, "De Muziekkampioen." He sang with a collection of various artists on three soundtracks; one was made on the "Die Rudi Carrell Show" in 1969. He died from leukemia and his grave marker simply states "Uncle Lou."

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