Entertainment · Celebrity · 14 hrs ago
Dutch actor and presenter Maarten Spanjer dies at 73
Dutch actor and presenter Maarten Spanjer has died at 73 in a hospice in Ouderkerk aan de Amstel.
He was best known for Taxi, a 1990s TV show in which he posed as a cab driver and spoke with passengers as hidden cameras recorded them.
Spanjer was also known for playing a young motorcycle racer in the 1980 film Spetters and for roles in other television shows.
He was born in Amsterdam and also wrote columns, short stories and more than ten books.
He had bladder and prostate cancer; one source says he was diagnosed in 2025, while another says he had been ill for some time.
His condition worsened in recent weeks, according to a friend who was with him when he died.
His death was reported by his friend to De Telegraaf; no further next steps were reported.
Dutch actor, presenter and writer Maarten Spanjer has died aged 73.
His death was reported by De Telegraaf, the newspaper for which he wrote columns.
Spanjer was known for the 1990s television program Taxi, in which he posed as a taxi driver and spoke with passengers while a hidden camera recorded them.
He had been living with bladder and prostate cancer and died in a hospice in Ouderkerk aan de Amstel.
His career included the film Spetters, television roles and more than ten books.
- Who
- Maarten Spanjer, a Dutch actor, presenter and writer.
- What
- He died aged 73.
- When
- Not stated.
- Where
- In a hospice in Ouderkerk aan de Amstel.
- Why
- Not stated.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Spanjer was born in Amsterdam on 24 October.
He performed characters on the television program Voetbal '80.
He broke through as a film actor in Paul Verhoeven’s Spetters.
Taxi won a Gouden Roos at the festival in Montreux.
Spanjer was diagnosed with bladder and prostate cancer, according to NU.nl.
- Age
- 73
- Birthplace
- Amsterdam
- Film breakthrough
- Spetters, 1980
- Television award
- Taxi won a Gouden Roos in Montreux in 1995
- Books
- More than ten
- Death location
- Hospice in Ouderkerk aan de Amstel
3 sources
What people are saying
Ze blijven de boel nog wel even in de gaten houden, maar ik voel me goed
Er waren ineens weer enorme, nieuwe uitzaaiingen met grote gevolgen. Hij kon ook niet meer, Maarten was op.