About Lex Goudsmit
Lived 1913 – 1999 (aged 86). Lex Goudsmit was a Dutch actor, television actor, film actor and radio drama actor.
Alexandre Joseph "Lex" Goudsmit (; 15 March 1913 – 10 December 1999) was a Dutch-Belgian actor.
Goudsmit's father, a diamond worker, was Jewish and his mother Roman Catholic. He became famous in 1966 for playing Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, which role he performed some 1100 times in the Netherlands and in London. He played many characters on Dutch television, among others in the popular youth series Q en Q (1974) and Thomas en Senior (1985–88). From 1984 to 1999 he played Grandpa Lex on Sesamstraat, the Dutch version of Sesame Street. Goudsmit was one of the artists who recorded the song Shalom from Holland (written by Simon Hammelburg and Ron Klipstein) as a token of solidarity to the Israeli people, threatened by missiles from Iraq, during the first Gulf War in 1991.
When Goudsmit died as the consequences of a stroke, instead of doing an episode dealing with his death, along the lines of Mr. Hooper's death, the producers addressed the issue on the program following Sesamstraat, called Jeugdjournaal (Youth News). The program aired a compilation of his best appearances on the show and commented on his death. Goudsmit had told producers that he wanted to stay on Sesamstraat even after his death, so the latest scenes he taped were still used on the next season. During this season, he was slowly phased out of the show and Aart Staartjes, who played the grumpy neighbor "Meneer Aart", became the grandfather figure.
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Important facts
People in Lex Goudsmit's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Lex Goudsmit's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Lex Goudsmit?
Dutch actor (1913-1999)
When was Lex Goudsmit born?
Lex Goudsmit was born on 15 March 1913 in Brussels.
When did Lex Goudsmit die?
Lex Goudsmit died on 10 December 1999 in Amsterdam.
What was Lex Goudsmit's occupation?
Lex Goudsmit was an actor, television actor, film actor and radio drama actor.
What nationality was Lex Goudsmit?
Lex Goudsmit was Dutch.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Lex Goudsmit. https://biography.guide/lex-goudsmit/
MLA: "Lex Goudsmit." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/lex-goudsmit/.
Chicago: "Lex Goudsmit." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/lex-goudsmit/.
Data last updated: 2026-09-23 · Spot an error? Report a correction.
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