Actor Michel Van Desselaer, 73, has died after suffering from a brain disease

Van Dusseler himself said goodbye to his career and to the public at the beginning of 2018, because he had been ill for years. In 2014, the actor suffered from a rare form of “non-fluent progressive aphasia”. It is a neurological disorder that affects the speech center in the brain, and then other areas of the brain as well. The disease made his life as an actor practically impossible, although Van Dusselerer was still on stage in 2016. He gave a stage performance with the support of a racket, who was whispering his texts through an earpiece.

Van Dusselere made a documentary about his illness with his wife, stage maker and director Irma Weijsmann: “Michael, the actor is losing words.” In it, they depict his disease process together, based on Van Dosselaeres’ recent theatrical role. With his wife, he searched for new ways to express himself, to maintain enthusiasm and to bid farewell to his life as an actor in an admirable way. During the screening of the documentary at the Rome Auditorium in Antwerp, Van Dusseler said goodbye to his audience without words. You can watch the entire documentary On VRT now.

Watch Martin Vandorsen’s report from “The Culture Club” (2017):