Danny Verbiest, more than the voice of Samson the dog

For years, decades, the TV show Samson en Gert ruled the Belgian airwaves with its enthralling episodes and catchy songs. Danny Verbiest, co-founder of the internationally renowned Studio 100 and spiritual father of the talking dog Samson, was the driving force behind it all.

Danny Verbiest was born in Vilvoorde, just outside of Brussels, on 27 September 1945. He has taken on many different jobs. Danny was renowned and respected as an actor and a puppeteer, but many might not know that, at the beginning of his career, he was also a schoolteacher. The clear thread throughout his life was that it served children.

In the 1980s, Verbiest founded the puppet theatre Malpertuus, and between 1983 and 1993 he presented Kameleon, a show in which he taught children all kinds of arts and crafts, but also going into cooking and gardening.

His famous talking dog character Samson was created in 1989, as a bit between shows on the public television channel, and it evolved into the aforementioned Samson en Gert. Danny was responsible for a lot of the excellent screenwriting. The show was such a success that it led, in 1996, to the creation of Studio 100.

This production studio is the brainchild of Verbiest, Gert Verhulst who portrayed Gert, and Hans Bourlon. They make all kinds of television shows, musicals and films and even run theme parks, and are in fact one of the biggest players in Europe when it comes to children’s and family entertainment.

Danny Verbiest retired in 2005 and passed 20 years later, at the relatively young age of 79, but Studio 100 and their mascot dog Samson live on.

© Studio 100