Career
He is well known for his role on Sesamstraat, the Dutch co-production of Sesame Street. On this show, his character"s name is Meneer Aart (Mr Aart) and in this persona he authored a book called Meneer Aart: Leven en werken van de man die geen kindervriend wil heten (Mr Aart: Life and work of the man who does not want to be named a friend to children). Staartjes used to present the annual arrival of Sinterklaas in the Netherlands.
As of 2005, he retired from this job.
Aart Staartjes was born in Nieuwendam, a neighbourhood of Amsterdam-Noord. He had an older brother, and a younger sister.
They lived in a house on the Nieuwendammerdijk. Staartjes started his primary education at the age of eight.
After that, he went to the mulo in Amsterdam, followed by the Kweekschool, a teachers" college.
He dropped out of the Kweekschool in 1958, and went to the theater school instead. He graduated in 1961. Staartjes made his debut in 1961 in Meneer Topaze, based on a play written by Marcel Pagnol in the 1930s.
